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Autism awareness and attitudes towards treatment in caregivers of children aged 3–6 years in Harbin, China

Abstract

Objective  

To (1) estimate the proportion of people in the community who could correctly recognize autism spectrum disorders (ASD); (2)
describe the attitudes towards various treatments for ASD; and (3) identify factors associated with ASD recognition.

Methods  

A population-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in Harbin, China (n = 4,947). We estimated the proportions of participants who were at different levels of knowledge about ASD and of their attitudes
towards mental health service use. Multivariate logistic regression modeling was used to identify factors associated with
the recognition of ASD.

Results  

Overall, 2,786 (57.8%) of the respondents could recognize the ASD. Recognition of autism depended on gender, residing areas,
age and educational levels. With respect to the attitudes towards mental health service use for ASD, 4,007 respondents (84.6%)
chose to visit a health organization for treatment; 2,470 (68.2%) made the choice of consulting a psychotherapist.

Conclusions  

There is a large room for improvement in awareness about ASD and treatment in the Chinese communities. Insufficient knowledge
about ASD and inappropriate attitudes towards mental health service use may impede the efforts of early identification and
intervention. Health education and promotion are needed to improve people’s knowledge about ASD and available mental health
services.

  • Content Type Journal Article
  • Category Original Paper
  • Pages 1-8
  • DOI 10.1007/s00127-011-0438-9
  • Authors
    • Jia Wang, Department of Children’s and Adolescent Health, Public Health College of Harbin Medical University, 157 Baojian Road, Nangang District, Harbin, 150086 People’s Republic of China
    • Xue Zhou, Department of Children’s and Adolescent Health, Public Health College of Harbin Medical University, 157 Baojian Road, Nangang District, Harbin, 150086 People’s Republic of China
    • Wei Xia, Department of Children’s and Adolescent Health, Public Health College of Harbin Medical University, 157 Baojian Road, Nangang District, Harbin, 150086 People’s Republic of China
    • CaiHong Sun, Department of Children’s and Adolescent Health, Public Health College of Harbin Medical University, 157 Baojian Road, Nangang District, Harbin, 150086 People’s Republic of China
    • LiJie Wu, Department of Children’s and Adolescent Health, Public Health College of Harbin Medical University, 157 Baojian Road, Nangang District, Harbin, 150086 People’s Republic of China
    • JianLi Wang, Departments of Psychiatry and of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, T2N 4Z6 Canada