A Descriptive Study among Children suffering from Autism in Baghdad, Iraq

Abstract

Autism is a spectrum of neuropsychiatric disorders that affects children from all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. The diagnosis is based on their developmental and medical history as well as observations of their social, communicative, and play behaviors that usually begin before age. Aims of the study: To identify the age at which the diagnosis of autism was made and sex distribution of autism. Role of the family history in autism. Prevalence of autism among children with psychiatric disorders. To determined the main clinical features and other associated features of autis. Methodology: A prospective study included a sample of 208 children with psychiatric disorder, whom attended the study was carried out at five teaching and non-teaching pediatric hospitals in Baghdad as well as the ibn rushed psychiatric teaching hospital in Baghdad. evaluated for the criteria of autism. Patients whom had autism evaluated regarding to the age at the diagnosis, sex, family history and clinical characters included the main clinical features and other associated features of autism. starting from mid of September till end of December 2016 . Questionnaire was constructed after a narrative study, which carried out at pediatric and non-pediatric hospitals by asking many parents open-ended questions related to the autism itself, and the type of care presented to their children during and after attack. The questionnaire consists of two parts:: It consists of demographic data concerning the respondents' general characteristics: age of parent's, their educational level and occupation, family history and residency. In addition to the affected child characteristics: Comprises of structured items c Results: Of the 208 patients register psychiatric problem , 33(15.87%) met criteria for autism, the mean age at which the diagnosis of autism made was 5.45 years with the boys more predominant than girls. Three main clinical features of autism are communication abnormality, social abnormality and behavioral abnormality, the communication abnormality was most commonest feature .Other associated features included enuresis, encopresis, sleep problems, over activity and anxiety, the commonest one was enuresis. Macrocephaly and seizure are important clinical characters of autism Conclusion: This study found that autism is not rare and that children with autism represent a significant subgroup of children with serious psychiatric disturbance the increase in cases of autism been created artificially by having “missed” the diagnosis in the past, and instead reporting autistic children as “mentally retarded?”Delay in the age of diagnosis support the view that autism may be easily missed. speech delay and abnormalities in language and communication are the hallmark features of autistic disturbance.