دراسة مستشفوية حول مستوى انتشار اضطراب طيف التوحد في ليبيا : ماذا يمكننا أن نفعل لمجابهة هذا الاضطراب ؟

Abstract EN

There are many problems in the field of child health and autism spectrum disorder is one of these problems.

If Autism is detected early, it can have a significant effect on the health and education of the child, or at least reduces its negative impact, though specialists believe that there is no complete cure for this disorder.

Autism is a global disorder and relatively little is known about its symptoms and its presence in developing countries such as Libya.

Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder in brain development that appears in early childhood and is manifested by difficulties in interacting and communicating with society- including poor verbal and non-verbal communication - and is associated with repetitive interests and limited activities.

Aim: Tracking and studying the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in children who were referred to Pediatric Neurodevelopment clinics (PNDC) at Al-Khadra General Hospital, Tripoli University Hospital and private specialized clinics between the years 2011-2020.

Methods: The study examined and compared the results of the assessment of all children referred to the PNDC between January 2011 to December 2020, with an initial diagnosis of language and speech delay.

The disorder was diagnosed on the basis of the DSM-5 & DSM-IV criteria (a checklist issued by American Psychiatric Association) as well as the Modified Checklist for Autism in Children (M-CHAT) and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale.

(CARS), in addition to the information obtained from interviewing the child and parents, general examination of the child and results of relevant investigations.

The statistical program SPSS-V 26 was used to perform the necessary statistical procedures, calculating percentages, frequencies, t-test, and analysis of variance to indicate differences between groups.

Results: There is an increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in Libya over the past ten years.

Although that period in Libya witnessed armed conflict and political instability, the number of new diagnoses and prevalence level has more than doubled annually.

In 2020, more than 363 children newly diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and communication and social interaction disorders.

The study showed that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder among children was about 4 to 8 children per one thousand children and it is still increasing.

The ratio of males to females was 4:1 and this rise was observed all over the world.

Conclusion: This is a hospital-based study and does not reflect the true prevalence of the spectrum as the prevalence of this problem is probably similar to that seen in USA and UK.

Referral to specialists with experience in this type of problem saves time and money and keeps the child away from investigations and medications.