{"title":"The assessing medical professionals' knowledge of autism spectrum disorders.","authors":"Aliya Nurmukhanbetova, Eleonora Nurbaulina, Sandugash Kurmanalina, Zhanar Sabyrdilda, Balnur Iskakova, Nazgul Akhtayeva, Lyazzat Kosherbayeva, Laura Kozhageldiyeva","doi":"10.1177/22799036261450250","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The global prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) continues to rise, underscoring the importance of assessing physicians' preparedness to recognize ASD symptoms promptly and provide appropriate care and support to affected children and their families.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The aim was to assess the level of knowledge among medical professionals described above and involved in the care of children with ASD.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted using a structured questionnaire in Kazakh and Russian. A total of 638 Almaty medical professionals participated: 312 general practitioners (GP), 194 pediatricians, 88 neurologists, and 44 psychiatrists. Analyses were performed in Stata 15.1, with GP and pediatrician data examined as primary healthcare (PHC) groups, and neurologists and psychiatrists analyzed as specialists from both PHC and inpatient settings. The questionnaire showed good internal consistency (Kuder-Richardson Formula 20: 0.842 for neurologists/psychiatrists; 0.854 for pediatricians/GPs). Tetrachoric correlations were used for factor extraction. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and principal factor analysis assessed relationships between professional characteristics and ASD knowledge.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Psychiatrists demonstrated a greater recognition of certain ASD signs and a stronger need for further education than neurologists, with key areas centered on social, behavioral, and sensory symptoms. Pediatricians with more experience than GPs, demonstrated a higher awareness of ASD symptoms and diagnosis, with social impairment and diagnostic knowledge being the main factors shaping understanding in both groups.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The low awareness of physicians in providing care to children with ASD revealed the need to develop strategies to improve their knowledge, in particular among GPs.</p>","PeriodicalId":45958,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Public Health Research","volume":"15 2","pages":"22799036261450250"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2026-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13172684/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Public Health Research","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/22799036261450250","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/4/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The global prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) continues to rise, underscoring the importance of assessing physicians' preparedness to recognize ASD symptoms promptly and provide appropriate care and support to affected children and their families.
Objective: The aim was to assess the level of knowledge among medical professionals described above and involved in the care of children with ASD.
Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted using a structured questionnaire in Kazakh and Russian. A total of 638 Almaty medical professionals participated: 312 general practitioners (GP), 194 pediatricians, 88 neurologists, and 44 psychiatrists. Analyses were performed in Stata 15.1, with GP and pediatrician data examined as primary healthcare (PHC) groups, and neurologists and psychiatrists analyzed as specialists from both PHC and inpatient settings. The questionnaire showed good internal consistency (Kuder-Richardson Formula 20: 0.842 for neurologists/psychiatrists; 0.854 for pediatricians/GPs). Tetrachoric correlations were used for factor extraction. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and principal factor analysis assessed relationships between professional characteristics and ASD knowledge.
Results: Psychiatrists demonstrated a greater recognition of certain ASD signs and a stronger need for further education than neurologists, with key areas centered on social, behavioral, and sensory symptoms. Pediatricians with more experience than GPs, demonstrated a higher awareness of ASD symptoms and diagnosis, with social impairment and diagnostic knowledge being the main factors shaping understanding in both groups.
Conclusion: The low awareness of physicians in providing care to children with ASD revealed the need to develop strategies to improve their knowledge, in particular among GPs.
期刊介绍：
The Journal of Public Health Research (JPHR) is an online Open Access, peer-reviewed journal in the field of public health science. The aim of the journal is to stimulate debate and dissemination of knowledge in the public health field in order to improve efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency of public health interventions to improve health outcomes of populations. This aim can only be achieved by adopting a global and multidisciplinary approach. The Journal of Public Health Research publishes contributions from both the “traditional'' disciplines of public health, including hygiene, epidemiology, health education, environmental health, occupational health, health policy, hospital management, health economics, law and ethics as well as from the area of new health care fields including social science, communication science, eHealth and mHealth philosophy, health technology assessment, genetics research implications, population-mental health, gender and disparity issues, global and migration-related themes. In support of this approach, JPHR strongly encourages the use of real multidisciplinary approaches and analyses in the manuscripts submitted to the journal. In addition to Original research, Systematic Review, Meta-analysis, Meta-synthesis and Perspectives and Debate articles, JPHR publishes newsworthy Brief Reports, Letters and Study Protocols related to public health and public health management activities.
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