Aim: Different screening strategies have been proposed to detect high risk women during pregnancy for Down syndrome. In order to achieve effective screening, the patient making the choice and the staff offering the test must have a reasonable understanding of all facts relevant to the test. The aim of this study was to assess the existing knowledge and awareness of antenatal Down syndrome screening in patients and obstetric stakeholders across eight major obstetric centres in Sri Lanka. Methods: This was a prospective study carried out between January and June 2013 in eight tertiary care settings in 7 districts representing Northern, Western, Eastern, Southern and central provinces in Sri Lanka. A validated questionnaire was translated from English into Singhalese and Tamil and independently translated back to English and piloted to confirm the accuracy of the translation. This translated questionnaire was distributed among antenatal patients and obstetric unit staff members. Results: A total of 1116 patients and 535 staff members were recruited. Present overall knowledge of Down syndrome among antenatal patients was poor in all 7 districts. Majority of patients were not aware that available options of screening for Down syndrome (Awareness about nuchal translucency-21.6% (95% CI 14.7-30.6%), biochemical screening-26.3% (95% CI 18.7-35.7%) invasive procedures-23.3 (95% CI, 16.1-32.5%). Majority of staff members were also not aware about available screening strategies (Awareness about nuchal translucency-29.3% (95% CI 21.3-38.9%), biochemical screening-26.9% (95% CI 19.2-36.3%) but their knowledge of diagnostic tests were high (invasive procedures-59.4% (49.6-68.5%). Moreover, there is no difference in knowledge in different part of the island. Conclusions: Adequate education on available screening methods of Down syndrome for the staff is a timely need so that the means would be available to disseminate knowledge to the wider patient and public populations.
The purpose of the present research is to optimize the use of the data available at the Speech-and-Language in Autism Spectrum Disorders Research Laboratory, after 25 years of assessment and intervention with children and adolescents with ASD. The data about over 400 individuals regarding their social demographic characteristics, and adherence to speech-language therapy may provide important data to guarantee the provision of SLP services to children with autism spectrum disorders. The fact that boys seem to get to the service earlier and stay longer than girls must be addressed, in order to guarantee to the female population the same kind of opportunities provided to males.
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