Disclosing a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability to pediatric patients in Japan in early diagnostic stages and associated factors: a cross-sectional study
Abstract Background With a recent increase in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), an important issue has emerged in clinical practice regarding when and how patients themselves should be given explanations following a diagnosis of ASD. The clinical guidelines of the UK National Institu...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-08-01
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| Series: | BioPsychoSocial Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13030-022-00247-0 |
| _version_ | 1818000557903708160 |
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| author | Hiroyuki Sato Misao Fujita Atsushi Tsuchiya Taichi Hatta Katsumi Mori Eisuke Nakazawa Yoshiyuki Takimoto Akira Akabayashi |
| author_facet | Hiroyuki Sato Misao Fujita Atsushi Tsuchiya Taichi Hatta Katsumi Mori Eisuke Nakazawa Yoshiyuki Takimoto Akira Akabayashi |
| author_sort | Hiroyuki Sato |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background With a recent increase in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), an important issue has emerged in clinical practice regarding when and how patients themselves should be given explanations following a diagnosis of ASD. The clinical guidelines of the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence state that children diagnosed with ASD should receive an explanation about what ASD is and how it affects their development and functioning—“if appropriate”. However, the guidelines do not provide any specifics regarding what constitutes “appropriate” situations Methods We conducted an anonymous self-administered postal questionnaire survey targeting all members of the Japanese Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (n=1,995). The analysis included only physicians who had newly diagnosed pediatric patients with ASD in the past year. We imposed a limit of one year because diagnoses further back than that are difficult to recall; in other words, this would enhance the recall bias Results The recovery rate was 30.8%, and the rate of diagnosis disclosure to patients themselves without intellectual disability was 15.3%. We asked 361 physicians who responded that “deciding on a case-by-case basis” was the ideal way to disclose an ASD diagnosis about 20 items prioritized by physicians at the time of diagnosis disclosure and extracted three factors through exploratory factor analysis. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed with physician attributes, awareness of ASD as a disorder or personality, and the three extracted factors as explanatory variables; diagnosis disclosure was the dependent variable. The patient age group and only one of the three factors (i.e., “factor related to readiness to accept diagnosis”) showed a significant association with disclosure of the diagnosis to the individual. Items included in the “factor related to readiness to accept diagnosis” were as follows: the degree of parental understanding, relationship of the patient with their parents/physician, agreement in opinion between parents, parental consent, “sufficient” patient understanding, symptom stabilization, and a guarantee of sufficient time required to explain the diagnosis to the patient Conclusion In clinical settings, disclosing an ASD diagnosis with the consideration of patient/parent readiness toward accepting the diagnosis could help to guide physicians in determining an ideal timing for disclosure. Future studies are needed to establish detailed and concrete guidelines regarding disclosure of an ASD diagnosis to patients. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T03:22:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cfd118659aee4add8bd90bffc5402c97 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1751-0759 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T03:22:55Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
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| series | BioPsychoSocial Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-cfd118659aee4add8bd90bffc5402c972022-12-22T02:15:15ZengBMCBioPsychoSocial Medicine1751-07592022-08-011611910.1186/s13030-022-00247-0Disclosing a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability to pediatric patients in Japan in early diagnostic stages and associated factors: a cross-sectional studyHiroyuki Sato0Misao Fujita1Atsushi Tsuchiya2Taichi Hatta3Katsumi Mori4Eisuke Nakazawa5Yoshiyuki Takimoto6Akira Akabayashi7Department of Biomedical Ethics, Faculty of Medicine, University of TokyoUehiro Research Division for iPS Cell Ethics, Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Kyoto UniversityKansai University Graduate School of SociologyGraduate School of Public Health, Shizuoka Graduate University of Public HealthDepartment of Biomedical Ethics, Faculty of Medicine, University of TokyoDepartment of Biomedical Ethics, Faculty of Medicine, University of TokyoDepartment of Biomedical Ethics, Faculty of Medicine, University of TokyoDepartment of Biomedical Ethics, Faculty of Medicine, University of TokyoAbstract Background With a recent increase in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), an important issue has emerged in clinical practice regarding when and how patients themselves should be given explanations following a diagnosis of ASD. The clinical guidelines of the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence state that children diagnosed with ASD should receive an explanation about what ASD is and how it affects their development and functioning—“if appropriate”. However, the guidelines do not provide any specifics regarding what constitutes “appropriate” situations Methods We conducted an anonymous self-administered postal questionnaire survey targeting all members of the Japanese Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (n=1,995). The analysis included only physicians who had newly diagnosed pediatric patients with ASD in the past year. We imposed a limit of one year because diagnoses further back than that are difficult to recall; in other words, this would enhance the recall bias Results The recovery rate was 30.8%, and the rate of diagnosis disclosure to patients themselves without intellectual disability was 15.3%. We asked 361 physicians who responded that “deciding on a case-by-case basis” was the ideal way to disclose an ASD diagnosis about 20 items prioritized by physicians at the time of diagnosis disclosure and extracted three factors through exploratory factor analysis. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed with physician attributes, awareness of ASD as a disorder or personality, and the three extracted factors as explanatory variables; diagnosis disclosure was the dependent variable. The patient age group and only one of the three factors (i.e., “factor related to readiness to accept diagnosis”) showed a significant association with disclosure of the diagnosis to the individual. Items included in the “factor related to readiness to accept diagnosis” were as follows: the degree of parental understanding, relationship of the patient with their parents/physician, agreement in opinion between parents, parental consent, “sufficient” patient understanding, symptom stabilization, and a guarantee of sufficient time required to explain the diagnosis to the patient Conclusion In clinical settings, disclosing an ASD diagnosis with the consideration of patient/parent readiness toward accepting the diagnosis could help to guide physicians in determining an ideal timing for disclosure. Future studies are needed to establish detailed and concrete guidelines regarding disclosure of an ASD diagnosis to patients.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13030-022-00247-0Autism spectrum disorderDiagnosis disclosureQuantitative researchMultivariate logistic regression analysisJapanCross-sectional study |
| spellingShingle | Hiroyuki Sato Misao Fujita Atsushi Tsuchiya Taichi Hatta Katsumi Mori Eisuke Nakazawa Yoshiyuki Takimoto Akira Akabayashi Disclosing a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability to pediatric patients in Japan in early diagnostic stages and associated factors: a cross-sectional study BioPsychoSocial Medicine Autism spectrum disorder Diagnosis disclosure Quantitative research Multivariate logistic regression analysis Japan Cross-sectional study |
| title | Disclosing a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability to pediatric patients in Japan in early diagnostic stages and associated factors: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full | Disclosing a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability to pediatric patients in Japan in early diagnostic stages and associated factors: a cross-sectional study |
| title_fullStr | Disclosing a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability to pediatric patients in Japan in early diagnostic stages and associated factors: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Disclosing a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability to pediatric patients in Japan in early diagnostic stages and associated factors: a cross-sectional study |
| title_short | Disclosing a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability to pediatric patients in Japan in early diagnostic stages and associated factors: a cross-sectional study |
| title_sort | disclosing a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability to pediatric patients in japan in early diagnostic stages and associated factors a cross sectional study |
| topic | Autism spectrum disorder Diagnosis disclosure Quantitative research Multivariate logistic regression analysis Japan Cross-sectional study |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13030-022-00247-0 |
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