Clinical characteristics and demographic profile of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at child development clinic (CDC), Penang Hospital, Malaysia
- Author:
Sathyabama Ramachandram
1
Author Information
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords: Children; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Clinical characteristics
- From: The Medical Journal of Malaysia 2019;74(5):372-376
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
- Abstract: Objective: To explore socio-demographics and clinical characteristics of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at Child Development Clinic (CDC), Penang Hospital. Study design: A record review study of 331 children with ASD attending CDC, Penang Hospital from September 2013 to April 2017. Results: Out of 331 children with ASD, 82.5% were males, 17.5% females, with male to female ratio of 4.7:1. Mean age at consultation was 5 years and 6 months (SD 31.68 months) with age range from 19 months to 18 years and 4 months. 85.8% were term infants with normal birth weight. History of speech regression was noted in 14.8%, epilepsy and genetic disorders in 9.4% and 5.7% respectively. Sleep problems was reported in 29.3%, dietary issues 22.1%, challenging behaviour 24.2% and ADHD 14.2%. Mean age of the father and mother at birth was 33.6 and 31.6 years respectively. Conclusion: In this study, we report a higher male to female ratio and mean age at referral with some similar rates of neurodevelopmental and medical comorbidities and relatively younger parental age with higher parental education levels
