Child and Adolescent Unit, Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, New Haven, Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria.
Ann Gen Psychiatry. 2009 Feb 12;8:6. doi: 10.1186/1744-859X-8-6.
Because of their peculiar sociocultural background, healthcare workers in sub-Saharan African subcultures may have various conceptions on different aspects of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), such as etiology, treatment and issues of prognosis. These various conceptions, if different from current knowledge in literature about ASD, may negatively influence help-seeking behavior of parents of children with ASD who seek advice and information from the healthcare workers. This study assessed the opinions of healthcare workers in Nigeria on aspects of etiology, treatability and preventability of childhood autism, and relates their opinions to the sociodemographic variables.
Healthcare workers working in four tertiary healthcare facilities located in the south-east and south-south regions of Nigeria were interviewed with a sociodemographic questionnaire, personal opinion on etiology, treatability and preventability of childhood autism (POETPCA) questionnaire and knowledge about childhood autism among health workers (KCAHW) questionnaire to assess their knowledge and opinions on various aspects of childhood autism.
A total of 134 healthcare workers participated in the study. In all, 78 (58.2%), 19 (14.2%) and 36 (26.9%) of the healthcare workers were of the opinion that the etiology of childhood autism can be explained by natural, preternatural and supernatural causes, respectively. One (0.7%) of the healthcare workers was unsure of the explanation of the etiology. Knowledge about childhood autism as measured by scores on the KCAHW questionnaire was the only factor significantly associated with the opinions of the healthcare workers on etiology of childhood autism. In all, 73 (54.5%) and 43 (32.1%), of the healthcare workers subscribed to the opinion that childhood autism is treatable and preventable respectively. Previous involvement with managing children with ASD significantly influenced the opinion of the healthcare workers in subscribing to treatability of childhood autism, while working experience of less than 6 years among the healthcare workers significantly influenced the opinion of the healthcare workers in admitting to believing in the preventability of childhood autism.
In designing policies and programs to change negative opinions or beliefs of healthcare workers about childhood autism, there is a need for baseline information such as this survey. Changing the negative opinions or beliefs of the healthcare workers about childhood autism should encourage appropriate help-seeking behavior among parents of children with ASD who may be seeking advice or information from the healthcare workers. This would encourage early interventions, which are essential to prognosis of childhood autism.
由于特殊的社会文化背景，撒哈拉以南非洲次文化中的医疗工作者可能对自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的各个方面有不同的看法，例如病因、治疗和预后问题。这些不同的看法，如果与 ASD 文献中的现有知识不同，可能会对寻求医疗工作者建议和信息的 ASD 儿童家长的求诊行为产生负面影响。本研究评估了尼日利亚医疗工作者对儿童自闭症病因、可治疗性和可预防性的看法，并将这些看法与社会人口学变量联系起来。
对尼日利亚东南部和南部地区的四家三级医疗机构的医疗工作者进行访谈，使用社会人口学问卷、儿童自闭症病因、可治疗性和可预防性个人意见问卷（POETPCA）以及卫生工作者对儿童自闭症的知识问卷（KCAHW），以评估他们对儿童自闭症各个方面的知识和意见。
共有 134 名医疗工作者参与了研究。在所有医疗工作者中，分别有 78 人（58.2%）、19 人（14.2%）和 36 人（26.9%）认为儿童自闭症的病因可以用自然、超自然和超自然原因来解释。有 1 名（0.7%）医疗工作者对病因解释不确定。KCAHW 问卷的得分所衡量的儿童自闭症知识是唯一与医疗工作者对儿童自闭症病因看法显著相关的因素。在所有医疗工作者中，分别有 73 人（54.5%）和 43 人（32.1%）认为儿童自闭症是可治疗的和可预防的。以前参与管理自闭症儿童的经历显著影响了医疗工作者对儿童自闭症可治疗性的看法，而医疗工作者不到 6 年的工作经验则显著影响了医疗工作者对自闭症可预防性的看法。
在制定改变医疗工作者对儿童自闭症的负面看法或信念的政策和计划时，需要有这种调查的基础信息。改变医疗工作者对儿童自闭症的负面看法或信念，应该鼓励 ASD 儿童的家长寻求适当的帮助，他们可能正在向医疗工作者寻求建议或信息。这将鼓励早期干预，这对自闭症儿童的预后至关重要。
