M-CHAT-R: UTILIZING FOR SCREENING AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a multifaceted condition marked by challenges in communication and social interactions, behavioral restrictions, and repetitive actions. Identifying children who may be at risk of ASD early on is crucial for prompt consultation, monitoring, and intervention. Objectives: Determine the rate of Autism Spectrum Disorder in children between the ages of 18 and 36 months by utilizing the M-CHAT-R scale at the clinic of Can Tho Children's Hospital. And identify the associated risk factors for that rate of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Materials and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted on 608 children aged 18-36 months who were examined at the clinic of Can Tho Children's Hospital. Results: The majority of children in the study, comprising 88.3%, fell within the age range of 24-36 months, with proportions of boys and girls at 57.6% and 42.4%, respectively. Among the children, 94.7% (576/608 children) were classified as low risk, while medium risk and high risk accounted for 4.28% (26/608 children) and 1.02% (6/608 children), respectively. Questions with notably high positive rates among at-risk children were item 2 (38.9%), item 5 (15.2%), item 12 (16.2%), item 11 (4.8%). Conversely, the least common symptom was indicated in question 9, where children showed a preference for moving activities, accounting for only 2.7%. Associations were observed between the risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder and factors such as gender (p=0.04), father’age (p=0.024), alcohol consumption (p=0.047), birth asphyxia (p=0.036), seizures due to high fever/unknown cause (p=0.035). Conclusion: In the study, the rate of positive M-CHAT-R was 5.3% (32 out of 608 children), predominantly observed in the low-risk group, accounting for 94.7%. The majority of positive cases fell within the 24-36 month age group, comprising 26 out of the 32 children. The risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder showed correlations with gender, father’s age older or equal to 35 years old, alcohol consumption, birth asphyxia and seizures triggered by high fever or unknown causes. However, there was no observed relationship between the risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder and age group factors.