RESUMEN
Objectives: To investigate the impact of Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) on the quality of life (QOL) of parents of the affected child and identify predictors of deteriorating QOL. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at the Autistic Center, Ministry of Health, Tabuk city included a sample of parents or caregivers of autistic children (aged ≤ 14 years) throughout the study period (August-November, 2019). A self-administered questionnaire was used consisted of socio-demographic variables of the parent/caregiver, autistic child`s data and the different items of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Results: The study included 100 parents/caregivers. The age of more than half of them (54%) ranged between 31 and 40 years. More than half (58%) were females. The second level of autism was observed among 47% of the affected children while levels one and three were observed among 40% and 13% of them, respectively. Concerning the different domains of QOL, 11%, 21%, 8% and 15% of the parents/caregivers had poor physical, psychological, social and environmental domains of QOL. Overall, 7% of parents/caregivers had poor QOL. Parents/caregivers aged between 31-40 years, unmarried, low income, whose autistic children aged 3 years, had duration of the disease of 3 years were more likely to have poor overall QOL compared to their counterparts. Conclusion: Overall quality of life of parents/caregivers of autistic children in Tabuk was good. The most affected domains were the psychological and environmental domains. The majority of them have self-perceived their quality of life as neutral and were satisfied with their general health.
RESUMEN
Background: Saudi Arabia has a high prevalence of Inherited diseases such as Sickle cell anaemia (SCA), Thalassemia and hepatitis are chronic diseases that affect the individual quality of life, which can be limited by increasing the knowledge among the community. Objectives: To assess the level of knowledge and the attitude among Saudi Tabuk University students regarding premarital screening program. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2019 to August 2019 among Saudi students of the University of Tabuk, both male and female. A self-administered questionnaire about knowledge and attitude of the Saudi community towards premarital screening program was used for data collection. It consists of 3 main sections; demographical data, student’s general knowledge about the screening program and the attitude of the students towards premarital screening. Results: The study included 437 students. The age ranged between 18 and 29 years with a mean ± SD of 21.5 ± 2.2 years. More than half of them (56.8%) were females. Overall, slightly less than half of the students (48.3%) had sufficient knowledge regarding premarital screening. Female (p=0.003), married (p=0.044) and were medical students (p=0.024) were more knowledgeable than their counterparts. Overall, almost two-thirds of the students (69.8%) had a positive attitude towards premarital screening. Conclusion: Although knowledge regarding premarital screening among Tabuk university students was insufficient among almost half of them, they had an overall positive attitude towards the program.