Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) among the children aged 18-36 months in a rural community of Bangladesh: A cross sectional study

Abstract

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of complex neurodevelopment disorders characterized by repetitive and characteristic patterns of behavior and difficulties with social communication and interaction. In Bangladesh, autism in children is a significant burden of disease. Early identification of ASD could improve quality of life. The study has explored at the prevalence of ASD among rural community children aged between 18-36 months. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among the 5286 children aged between 18-36 months in a rural community. Household level data was collected using screening tool MCHAT. Primarily screening positive 66 children were invited for final diagnosis in a health camp. Diagnosis was made by different staging started from primary screening, followed by validation using MCHAT and flash card. Final diagnosis was made by the paediatric neurologists, child clinical psychologists and development therapist using diagnostic tools (DSM-IV & ADOS). Results: 04 children were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Prevalence of the ASD in rural community was found 0.75/1000 children. Among the four ASD cases three were boys and one was girl and age range was between 20- 30 months. Whereas, the highest prevalence rate found was for the cerebral palsy which was 5.6/1000 children and Developmental delay (2.6/1000) was the next to that. Conclusions: Age specific autism (18-36 months) in children is found higher in rural community of Bangladesh. In order to get more comprehensive information on autism in other age groups of children in rural community, further study is required. Early detection in rural community could help the policy makers to decentralization of health services among the ASD children in rural community.

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“…The national survey of ASD in Bangladesh conducted in 2013 reported the prevalence of ASD to be 15.5 per 10,000 children, with a higher prevalence of ASD in urban (300 per 10,000 children) than rural areas (6.8 per 10,000 children) [NCDC, RCHCIB, BMRC, 2013]. Recently, one study conducted in a rural subdistrict in Bangladesh reported that the prevalence of ASD was 7.5 per 10,000 children, indicating the prevalence of ASD may be increasing in Bangladesh than previously reported [Akhter et al, 2018]. Although the prevalence of ASD is likely to be under-reported, nonetheless the urban estimates in Bangladesh are consistent with the figures reported in high-income countries [Ferrante et al, 2015;Williams, Higgins, & Brayne, 2006;Xu, Strathearn, Liu, & Bao, 2018].…”

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“…Akhter et al proposed a cross-sectional study in [ 53 ], where they tried to find out the early detection of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) symptoms among children aged 18–36 months. This study explored a rural community of Bangladesh and was conducted among 5286 children in that rural area.…”