Autism Cognizance: A dilemma among medical and Allied Medical practitioners

OBJECTIVES: To determine the awareness about autism among Medical and Allied-Medical Practitioners. METHODS: This cross-sectional survey recruited a sample of n=300 participants including n=150 Medical and n=150 Allied-Medical practitioners using convenience sampling from Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Autism Resource Centre, Rawalpindi, Pakistan between 20(th) May 2018 to 20(th) October 2018. Sample included both genders, aged 21 to 50 years. Basic demographic sheet and Knowledge about Childhood Autism among Health Workers (KCAHW) Questionnaire was used to collect data. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 21. RESULTS: Study revealed the total mean KCAHW score of 15.20 ± 5.17 and 8.84 ± 6.31 for Allied-Medical and Medical practitioners respectively. While the Domain-I mean KCAHW scores was 6.28±2.10 and 3.68±2.41; Domain-II score 0.86 ± 0.35 and 0.45 ± 0.50; Domain-III score 3.28 ± 1.00 and 1.91 ± 1.65; and Domain-IV score of 4.83 ±1.72 and 2.80 ± 1.75 for Allied-Medical and Medical practitioners respectively. CONCLUSION: The present study shows that there is significant awareness regarding autism among Allied-Medical compared to Medical practitioners.