Abstract
BackgroundLack of physicians’ knowledge regarding mental health, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) could have adverse effects on affected individuals’ health and quality of life. The purpose of this study was to provide construct validity for a modified questionnaire in order to determine the self-reported competency for underlying sub-constructs in ASD, make inferences on perceived competence in ASD based on a sample of Romanian physicians, and identify physicians’ characteristics associated with these sub-domains of competency.MethodsFor this survey, we modified a questionnaire that was used in Pakistan and Turkey, and administered it to a sample of 383 practicing physicians in Romania to assess their perceived competency regarding ASD. Exploratory factor analysis on 12 knowledge questions revealed five sub-domains: stigma, potential causes, children’s behavior, misconceptions, and educational needs associated with ASD knowledge. Using General Linear Models, we determined physicians’ characteristics that predict the total competency score and various competency sub-scores.ResultsSeventy-five percent of the responding physicians were female and 30% had over 30 years practicing medicine. The majority (73–94%) of physicians have correctly responded to some basic questions regarding knowledge about ASD. We also found that younger physicians were more knowledgeable about potential causes of ASD than older physicians (Adjusted Mean Score (AMS): 2.90 vs. 2.18, P < 0.01), while older physicians knew more about the behavior of children with ASD (AMS: 0.64 vs. 0.37, P = 0.02). We found a significant interaction (P < 0.01) between television as source of ASD knowledge and city where the clinic is located in relation to knowledge of the physicians regarding stigma related to ASD. However, the total score was not associated with the variables associated with sub-domains.ConclusionUsing factor analysis, we demonstrated construct validity of five sub-domains related to Romanian physicians’ knowledge about ASD that include stigma, potential causes, behavior in ASD children, special education needs, and misconceptions related to ASD. The lack of significant association of the knowledge of physicians on ASD neither with the Psychiatry nor the Pediatric ward rotations at medical school may support the need for improving the curriculum on ASD in Romanian medical schools.
Highlights
Lack of physicians’ knowledge regarding mental health, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) could have adverse effects on affected individuals’ health and quality of life
Rahbar et al BMC Medical Education (2021) 21:588 neither with the Psychiatry nor the Pediatric ward rotations at medical school may support the need for improving the curriculum on ASD in Romanian medical schools
Characteristics associated with physicians’ knowledge of stigma related to ASD Our multivariable General Linear Models (GLMs) with the “physicians’ knowledge about the existing stigma related to ASD in the Romanian community” sub-score (Factor 1) as the dependent variable, used the city where the clinical practice of the physician is located, and whether the physician indicated television (TV) as a source of ASD knowledge as the independent variables
Summary
Lack of physicians’ knowledge regarding mental health, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) could have adverse effects on affected individuals’ health and quality of life. An inadequate level of general knowledge of physicians regarding mental health issues such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) could have adverse effects on patients’ health and quality of life in various ways [3,4,5]. Greater focus is needed to educate a new generation of motivated medical school students about mental disorders including ASD [9, 10], who will be able to influence the perceptions of general populations about these disorders, and to further develop their interests in pursuing related opportunities to seek formal residency and fellowship trainings in Psychiatry and other related fields. Currently the medical education systems in many countries lack sufficient focus on ASD and other related disorders. There are some instances where physicians have only heard of mental health issues such as ASD through the media [10]
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