• Naheed Akhter, Nazia Mumtaz, and Ghulam Saqulain.
• Ms. Naheed Akhter, M. Phil (Speech Language Pathology), Head of Occupational Therapy, Autism Resource Centre, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
• Pak J Med Sci. 2020 May 1; 36 (4): 678-682.

ObjectivesTo determine the awareness about autism among Medical and Allied-Medical Practitioners.MethodsThis cross-sectional survey recruited a sample of n=300 participants including n=150 Medical and n=150 Allied-Medical practitioners using convenience sampling from Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Autism Resource Centre, Rawalpindi, Pakistan between 20th May 2018 to 20th October 2018. Sample included both genders, aged 21 to 50 years. Basic demographic sheet and Knowledge about Childhood Autism among Health Workers (KCAHW) Questionnaire was used to collect data. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 21.ResultsStudy revealed the total mean KCAHW score of 15.20 ± 5.17 and 8.84 ± 6.31 for Allied-Medical and Medical practitioners respectively. While the Domain-I mean KCAHW scores was 6.28±2.10 and 3.68±2.41; Domain-II score 0.86 ± 0.35 and 0.45 ± 0.50; Domain-III score 3.28 ± 1.00 and 1.91 ± 1.65; and Domain-IV score of 4.83 ±1.72 and 2.80 ± 1.75 for Allied-Medical and Medical practitioners respectively.ConclusionThe present study shows that there is significant awareness regarding autism among Allied-Medical compared to Medical practitioners.Copyright: © Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.

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