Letter to Editor: Diagnostic delay of autism in Jordan: review of 84 cases.
Author: Masri, A.T., Suluh, N.A. and Nasir, R.
Source:
Libyan Journal of Medicine, 8(1).
Little research is available on autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) epidemiology and clinical practice
in developing countries. Studies from the Middle
East are particularly rare (16). In Western countries,
autism is regarded as highly influenced by genetics,
although genetic abnormalities are only identified in a
minority of patients (7). There is increasing evidence
that the high rates of consanguinity in the Middle East
predispose to an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance of autism (8). In Jordan, the incidence of autosomal
recessive disorders is high, and contributes significantly
to the etiologies of global developmental delay (9, 10).
However, it is not known if autosomal recessive disorders
contribute to the incidence of autism in Jordan.
In this study, we reviewed the medical records of all the
84 children (64 boys and 20 girls) diagnosed with autism
between January 2001 and December 2009, at our clinic
at Jordan University Hospital. The Clinical diagnosis of
autism was based on the DSM: IV_TR criteria, American
Psychiatric Association (11).