DIFFERENT COMORBIDITIES AND SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

Shayla Imam Kanta*, Humira Rafiqua Quaderi, Shaoli Sarker and Mustafa Mahabub

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder which causes impairment of socialization, communication and behavior. Early identification and diagnosis is very important for the management of it. Different comorbidities and sociodemographic play an important role to identify and detection of severity. Objectives: To ascertain the sociodemographic factors, different comorbidities and their need for early management. Methodology: It is an observational study which was done in Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital. Different children with communication disorders are referred to Child development center (CDC) here from all over the country. All the Patient come with the complaints of communication problem in OPD and CDC clinic from January 2019-june 2019 were taken in the study after screening with MCHAT (modified checklist for autism) for below 4 years and SCQ for more than 4 years. After screening all cases are refereed to mental health general assessment clinic of CDC where according to DSM V it is further characterized and according to severity children are categorized as level I, II, III. Full psychological assessment was also done. Result: Total 158 children were included in this study. Male female ratio is 1.1:1. 53.6% is male and 46.4% is female. Male child, below 4 years of age and children came from urban and nuclear family had high frequency of autism. Seizure occurs more in level II and level III and P value is statistically significant. Sleep problem, intellectual impairment and learning disabilities are not found statistically significant. Hyperactivities and sensory issues had significant association with severity. Conclusion: In this study we saw different factors including sociodemographic and comorbidities which should be considered as important factors for management. Male child, below 4 years, urban area, and nuclear family has high frequency. In case of comorbidities seizure, hyperactivities and sensory issues.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, hyperactivities, sensory.