Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) presenting to a child psychiatry department, including their clinical and demographics features.

Material and Methods: The data of children seen at the University of Health Sciences, Ankara Child Health and Diseases Hematology Oncology Hospital during 2017 and 2018 were retrospectively evaluated. The sociodemographics and clinical features of the children diagnosed with ASD were collected. Statistical analysis was performed.

Results: Of the 130 children with ASD evaluated, 80% were boys. The mean age when the ASD was diagnosed was 40.7 months (12-96 months). The mean age when they presented to the child psychiatry clinics was 56.5 months (16-152 months). There were 110 cases with special education data and 80.8% of them were continuing their education program. Of the 104 cases with intelligence quotient scores. 73.9% of them had intellectual disability. There were 105 cases with a medication history and 49.2% of them had used at least one psychotropic agent. The Aberrant Behavior Checklist (AbBC, (t(17)=-2.564, p=0.020) and Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC, (t(32)=-2.254, p=0.031) scores of the children with ASD who were followed-up were found to be higher in patients prescribed psychotropic medication than those who had not used any medication.

Conclusion: The age of the children when they were first diagnosed with ASD was high and they had presented to our clinics approximately one year after the diagnosis. This suggests that we had a high rate of patients who came from peripheral provinces to receive a definite diagnosis or to be treated. Although most cases were continuing their special education, the cases that presented to our clinic were relatively severe as determined by their aberrant behavior and medication use, and a high rate of intellectual disability.

Keywords: Demographics, DSM-5, Clinics, Autism

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How to cite

1.
Uğur Ç. Autism Spectrum Disorders in Cases Presenting to a Child Psychiatry Department: Demographics and Clinical Features. Turk J Pediatr Dis [Internet]. 2019 May 24 [cited 2025 Aug. 23];13(3):177-83. Available from: https://turkjpediatrdis.org/article/view/610