scholarly journals Validation of the Tunisian Test for Facial Emotions Recognition: Study in Children From 7 to 12 Years Old

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amal Taamallah ◽  
Soumeyya Halayem ◽  
Olfa Rajhi ◽  
Malek Ghazzai ◽  
Mohamed Moussa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Social Adaptation ◽  
Coding System ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Facial Emotions ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

Background: Facial expressions transmit information about emotional state, facilitating communication and regulation in interpersonal relationships. Their acute recognition is essential in social adaptation and lacks among children suffering from autism spectrum disorders. The aim of our study was to validate the “Recognition of Facial Emotions: Tunisian Test for Children” among Tunisian children in order to assess facial emotion recognition in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among neurotypical children from the general population. The final version of or test consisted of a static subtest of 114 photographs and a dynamic subtest of 36 videos expressing the six basic emotions (happiness, anger, sadness, disgust, fear and surprise), presented by actors of different ages and genders. The test items were coded according to Ekman’s “Facial Action Coding System” method. The validation study focused on the validity of the content, the validity of the construct and the reliability.Results: We included 116 neurotypical children, from 7 to 12 years old. Our population was made up of 54 boys and 62 girls. The reliability’s study showed good internal consistency for each subtest: the Cronbach coefficient was 0.88 for the static subtest and 0.85 for the dynamic subtest. The study of the internal structure through the exploratory factor analysis of the items of emotions and those of intensity showed that the distribution of the items in sub-domains was similar to their theoretical distribution. Age was significantly correlated to the mean of the overall score for both subtests (p < 10–3). Gender was no significantly correlated to the overall score (p = 0.15). High intensity photographs were better recognized. The emotion of happiness was the most recognized in both subtests. A significant difference between the overall score of the static and dynamic subtest, in favor of the dynamic one, was identified (p < 10–3).Conclusion: This work provides clinicians with a reliable tool to assess recognition of facial emotions in typically developing children.

scholarly journals General health of adults with autism spectrum disorders – A whole country population cross-sectional study

2019 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 59-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewelina Rydzewska ◽  
Laura A. Hughes-McCormack ◽  
Christopher Gillberg ◽  
Angela Henderson ◽  
Cecilia MacIntyre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
General Health ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Adults With Autism ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

scholarly journals Association of Breastfeeding for the First Six Months of Life and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A National Multi-Center Study in China

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Saijun Huang ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
Tao Sun ◽  
Hong Yu ◽  
Yanwei Liao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Exclusive Breastfeeding ◽  
Standard Procedure ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
World Health ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Multi Center Study

Previous studies have shown that exclusive breastfeeding is associated with lower odds of having autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children, but data are lacking in Asian countries, especially China. This cross-sectional study of seven cities in China collected data from August 2016 to March 2017 from 6049 toddlers aged 16–30 months and their parents who responded to questionnaires. The breastfeeding status was collected via questionnaires based on recommendations from the World Health Organization. The standard procedure for screening and diagnosis was applied to identify toddlers with ASD. Among the 6049 toddlers (3364 boys [55.6%]; mean [SD] age, 22.7 [4.1] months), 71 toddlers (1.2%) were identified as ASD. The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding, partial breastfeeding, and not breastfeeding was 48.8%, 42.2%, and 9.1%, respectively. Compared to toddlers with exclusive breastfeeding, toddlers with partial breastfeeding or without breastfeeding had higher odds of having ASD (odd ratios [OR]: 1.55, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.90–2.74; OR: 2.34, 95% CI: 1.10–4.82). We did not find significant modification of demographic characteristics on the associations. The results remained robust in multiple sensitivity analyses. Toddlers without breastfeeding for the first six months of life had higher odds of having ASD, and our findings shed light on the necessity of strengthening public health efforts to increase exclusive breastfeeding in China.

scholarly journals Self-rated familiarity with autism spectrum disorders among practicing nurses: a cross-sectional study in the palestinian nursing practice

BMC Nursing ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramzi Shawahna
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Community Resources ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Academic Degree ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Educational Course

Abstract Background Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are one of the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disabilities of early childhood. Practicing nurses are in a key position to help patients with ASDs and/or their caregivers/families. This study was conducted to assess self-rated familiarity with ASDs among practicing nurses in Palestine. The study also aimed to identify the sociodemographic and practice variables that could predict high self-rated familiarity scores. Methods This was a cross-sectional study using a questionnaire. The study was conducted in the period between January 2019 and May 2019. The questionnaire collected: 1) the sociodemographic, pedagogic, and practice variables of the nurses, 2) their self-rated familiarity with signs and symptoms, treatment options, and community resources of ASDs, 3) their self-rated confidence in their abilities to provide counseling for parents/family/caregivers on the drugs prescribed for children/patients with ASDs and their potential adverse effects, and 4) their willingness to receive education/training on issues in ASDs. Results The questionnaire was completed by 357 practicing nurses. The practicing nurses self-reported inadequate familiarity with symptoms, treatment, and community resources of ASDs. The mean familiarity score was 35.8% (SD: 18.9%). The nurses also expressed low confidence in their ability to provide counseling services to caregivers/families of children with ASDs. About 75% of the nurses agreed that they could benefit from taking a continuing educational/training program in the area of ASDs and about 82% of the nurses agreed that the nursing school curriculum should include courses in the area of ASDs. The multiple linear regression model showed that higher familiarity scores were predicted by having longer practical experience, having a higher academic degree in nursing, and having a continuing educational course/program on ASDs. Conclusion Findings of this study highlighted inadequate familiarity with issues of ASDs among practicing nurses. Higher familiarity was predicted by the length of practical experience, higher academic degree in nursing, and having continuing educational course/program on ASDs. Specifically designed pedagogic interventions might be helpful in increasing familiarity of practicing nurses on ASDs. More investigations are still needed to evaluate if these interventions can improve familiarity and services provided to patients with ASDs.

scholarly journals Medical Investigations in Autism Spectrum Disorders. A critical review of the everyday practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Diagnostic Yield ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
High Yield ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Next Generation Sequencing Ngs ◽  
Determining Factor ◽  
Medical Investigations

Objectives: To evaluate the outcome of medical examination in a population of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and to describe its usefulness. Study design: In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the records of 122 patients with ASD to analyze their clinical course, medical investigation and outcomes. Results: A total of 122 patients with ASD were included (0-18 years). Regarding the additional investigations, none of them has proved to have a high diagnostic yield in the absence of specific clinical features except from next generation sequencing (NGS), which showed a higher efficiency in comparison with the other genetic tests performed. Conclusions: Clinical context should be the main determining factor for the execution of additional medical investigations in children with diagnosis of ASD. Nevertheless, given its high yield, NGS would be indicated from the beginning in children with ASD as part of the etiological diagnosis.

scholarly journals Alterations in Gut Vitamins and Amino Acids Metabolism are Associated with Symptoms and Neurodevelopment of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiang Zhu ◽  
Xueying Hua ◽  
Ting Yang ◽  
Min Guo ◽  
Qiu Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Potential Interaction ◽  
Metabolic Disturbance ◽  
Social Responsiveness ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

Abstract Background Accumulated evidence have supported metabolic disturbance may be associated with the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Despite abnormalities of some shared metabolic pathways, specific differential compounds are inconsistent in studies, which made a challenge to elucidate the role of metabolism in the mechanism of ASD. Besides, few researches have assessed the correlation between gut metabolites with symptoms of ASD. Objectives The present study aimed to evaluate the gut metabolomic profiles of children with ASD and to analyze potential interaction between gut metabolites with symptoms and neurodevelopment of ASD children. Methods In this cross-sectional case-control study, 120 aged 2–6 years ASD children and 60 sex and age matched typically developing (TD) children were included. Autistic symptoms were assessed with the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC), Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), and the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Neurodevelopment was assessed with the Gesell Developmental Scale (GDS). Fecal samples were analyzed by untargeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) methods, then systematic bioinformatic analyses were performed to characterize the gut metabolomic profiles of ASD and TD children. The correlations between metabolites and clinical assessment scores were assessed using Spearman correlation. Results ASD children exhibit gut metabolism perturbation compared with TD children. A total of 96 differential metabolites between the ASD and TD groups were identified, with 35 increased and 61 decreased in ASD group. The metabolic disturbance of ASD involved in multiple vitamins and amino acids metabolism pathways, with the strongest enrichment identified for tryptophan metabolism, retinol metabolism, cysteine and methionine metabolism, and vitamin digestion and absorption. The imbalanced gut metabolites are significantly correlated to symptoms and neurodevelopment of ASD children. Limitations This cross-sectional study revealed a correlation, but do not allow to prove causation of symptoms and gut metabolites outcome. The disease specificity of the metabolomic disturbance need to be evaluated in future studies.Conclusions ASD children have altered gut metabolite profiles compared with TD children, which mainly involved in multiple vitamins and amino acids metabolism pathways. Notably, vitamins metabolism abnormalities may play roles in the disturbance of amino acids metabolism. Imbalanced gut metabolites are related to symptoms and neurodevelopment of ASD children. Our findings provided an improved understanding of perturbations of metabolome networks in ASD.

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