Screening for health-related quality of life in children and adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Whilst there has been a growing interest in children’s welfare in recent years, there has been a lack of consideration for those with special needs or health conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Both children with ASD and neurotypical children may be affected by low self-esteem, poor physical condition, or psychological distress at school, which can affect their quality of life. It is therefore important for children and young people to have their quality of life measured and understood. While, for the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia, there has been the translation of health-related quality of life tools, there is a need to ensure their validity compared to the original English language versions. In light of this need, this paper presents the development and application of the KIDSCREEN-52 method to measure the quality of life for children with ASD and neurotypical children in schools in Saudi Arabia. A quantitative approach was employed to achieve the development of the method consisting of instrument translation and the standardized assessment of the quality of life for Saudi pupils. This developed method was found to independently and analytically assess the quality of life in Saudi pupils. The results from the application of the developed instrument revealed that although children without ASD rated their quality of life higher than those with ASD, overall, most Saudi Arabian students with ASD enjoy a reasonable quality of life. The findings of this study should be of interest to educators and individuals working with and on behalf of school-aged children and young people in foreign language settings where the application of development instruments could reveal the health-related quality of life.