Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder is a lifelong developmental disorder that affects children and results in deficit in social interaction, communication and display of unusual pattern of behavior. Though caregiving is a normal parental duty, providing intensive care to a child with long-term problem is burdensome and impacts both physical and mental health of caregivers. The aim of this study was to obtain a picture of burden among caregivers raising children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study to assess the burden of caregiving among sixty one parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, using purposive sampling technique. The burden perceived by caregivers was assessed using standard tool Zarit Burden Interview-22.Results:  Average burden score was 41.49±12.25 which indicates that caregivers experienced moderate to severe range of burden. Level of education, anxiety and depression was found to be significantly associated with burden of caregiving.Conclusions: The study concluded that the burden of caregiving is most remarkably associated with emotional status and social life of the caregivers.

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder is a lifelong developmental disorder that affects children and results in deficit in social interaction, communication and display of unusual pattern of behavior. Though caregiving is a normal parental duty, providing intensive care to a child with long-term problem is burdensome and impacts both physical and mental health of caregivers. The aim of this study was to obtain a picture of burden among caregivers raising children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study to assess the burden of caregiving among sixty one parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, using purposive sampling technique. The burden perceived by caregivers was assessed using standard tool Zarit Burden Interview-22.Results: Average burden score was 41.49±12.25 which indicates that caregivers experienced moderate to severe range of burden. Level of education, anxiety and depression was found to be significantly associated with burden of caregiving.Conclusions: The study concluded that the burden of caregiving is most remarkably associated with emotional status and social life of the caregivers.Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD); caregiver burden; Nepal; zarit burden Interview.

Background. Sleep is an important parameter of a child’s growth and development. The pattern and duration of sleep varies with age. Sleep problems are a common occurrence during childhood days, and these problems that establish in childhood are presumed to continue later in life. Many times, parental concerns regarding their child’s sleep problems like difficulty in putting to sleep, frequent night time awakening, and waking up early are overlooked during their visits to the hospital. Objective. The aim of this study was to find out the sleep patterns and problems of children aged six to thirty-six months. Methodology. A cross-sectional study was conducted at the pediatric outpatient department of Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital from October, 2019 till March, 2020. Two hundred and forty-nine respondents were chosen purposively and were given questionnaires to be filled out. Research instrument was a standard, Nepali version of a structured questionnaire called Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ) which contained questions related to sleep parameters and sleep problems existing among young children of 6-36 months. Mean, standard deviation, frequencies, and Kruskal Wallis test were used for statistical analysis. Results. The mean duration of total sleep was 12.12 ± 2.00 hours, while that of night sleep was 9.22 ± 1.19 hours and mean daytime nap was 2.90 ± 1.66 hours. Most of the children (96%) coslept with their parents, and 55% of the children had feeding as a bedtime ritual. Overall, 19.6% of the children had sleep problems as identified by BISQ although only 5.6% of the parents perceived that their children had it. Conclusions. Sleep problems were present among young Nepalese children included in our study, and sleep assessment should be a part of every health checkup for children.