Problems of Establishing an Early Diagnosis and Detection System for Autism in China : A Survey of Doctors at Medical Institutions

Abstract

The present paper examines the requirements for an early diagnosis and detection system for autism that was proposed by doctors engaged in diagnosis and medical treatment for children with autism in Chinese medical institutions, in an attempt to clarify challenges for establishing an early diagnosis and detection system for autism in China. In questionnaire results from 185 doctors, including pediatricians and psychiatrists, at 9 hospitals in 4 major cities in Liaoning Province, China, although 93% of the doctors answered "Yes" to the question as to whether they knew about autism, only 62.7% of the doctors had studied about autism, and just 27.6% of the doctors had had medical care experience related to autism. These results suggest that many doctors in Liaoning Province must have insufficient knowledge about autism. Nearly all of the respondents indicated that an early detection system for autism had not been developed in China. Most of the clinical doctors suggested that an ideal screening system for detecting autism in China would be one in which doctors or public health nurses performed screening tests that included items related to the early detection of autism as part of the general health check system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)