Child Healthcare Workers’ Knowledge About Autism and Attitudes Towards Traditional Chinese Medical Therapy of Autism: A Survey from Grassroots Institutes in China

Background: It is reported that there is increasing prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the world. Early recognition, diagnosis and intervention are known to be vital to improve the prognosis in children with ASD. In China, little research has been conducted on the knowledge of autism prevalence by child healthcare workers, or their attitude towards the traditional Chinese medical treatment of childhood ASD. Objectives: This study assessed the knowledge of autism prevalence and attitudes towards traditional Chinese medical treatment among child healthcare workers in grassroots health organizations in China. Methods: A total of 265 child healthcare workers were randomly selected in Chongqing, China. A socio-demographic questionnaire was administered to assess knowledge about autism prevalence as well as the attitudes towards the traditional Chinese medical treatment of childhood ASD. The correlations between socio-demographic variables and knowledge of childhood ASD were examined using univariate and multivariate analyses. Results: Out of 12 possible scores of knowledge about autism, mean score was 7.3 ± 2.19. Knowledge about childhood ASD was statistically associated with the education level, geographic region, the area of specialty and level of work experience with ASD. 38% of participants believed that ASD could be treated by traditional Chinese medicine. 79% of participants did not agree that the prevalence of childhood ASD in China was approximately 1%. Conclusions: The scores among child healthcare workers reflect deficits in knowledge about ASD. Therefore, education about childhood ASD is needed. Further studies on the effects of traditional Chinese medical treatment and a relatively accurate prevalence of ASD in China are needed.