Evaluatinge knowledge,attitudes,and behaviors about autism spectrum disorder of health care professionals working in primary health care facilities in Bolu provinc

Purpose: ASD, whose frequency has increased recently, is a chronic neurodevelopmental disorder that provides effective results with early treatment when detected. For this reason, it is important to recognize autism in primary healthcare institutions and raise awareness among healthcare professionals. The aim of our study is to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and behaviors of primary healthcare professionals working in Bolu province towards autism spectrum disorder and to increase their level of knowledge and awareness on this subject. Materials and Methods: This study, which is a cross-sectional and descriptive survey study, was conducted between 01.01.2022 and 30.06.2022 with 258 primary healthcare professionals who agreed to participate in the research in Bolu. The sociodemographic survey form and the Healthcare Professionals' Knowledge Survey on Childhood Autism (HP-AKS) were administered to the participants face to face or online. Results: The average score of the participants in the Healthcare Professionals' Knowledge Survey on Childhood Autism (HP-AKS) was found to be 13.36 with the highest score being 19. Healthcare Professionals' Knowledge Survey on Childhood Autism (HP-AKS) presented that there was a statistically significant difference between those who received medical specialization training compared to the ones that did not receive medical specialization training (p=0.001); those who attended any training program related to ASD compared to the ones that did not participate (p=0.001); those who had an individual with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder around them compared to those that did not (p=0.005); and those who thought their knowledge about autism was sufficient compared to those who thought it was inadequate (p=0.00). xii Conclusions: It was determined that most of the participants were familiar with the general indications of ASD, but had a lack of knowledge about the diseases and habits that may accompany ASD. Additionally, it has been determined that receiving specialization training for physicians and attending a training on ASD for healthcare professionals in general are factors that increase the level of knowledge. For this reason, ASD should be added to the curriculum of the specialty of family medicine, and assistants should take part in the evaluation steps of the child diagnosed with autism at least once. In addition, the number of training programs in primary healthcare institutions should be increased for the better exercising of "ASD screening and follow-up program" implemented by the Ministry of Health.