The effect of the first quarantine process in the COVID-19 pandemic on the severity of autism symptoms in children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and related factors

In this study, it was aimed to examine the effect of the Covid-19 quarantine process on the severity of autism symptoms in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to investigate the factors affecting the severity of ASD in this process. Our study included 42 children aged between 3 and 6 (Mean = 4.69 ± 1.09), 34 males (81%) and 8 females (19%), diagnosed with ASD, who were followed up regularly in Adana City Training and Research Hospital. Longitudinal research method was used in our study. As a data collection tool, a 33-item personal information form was filled in during the face-to-face interview with the parents. The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) was applied in a face-to-face clinical setting to determine the severity of ASD. The data obtained were evaluated using the SPSS Version 25.0. Windows package program. Our study shows that post-quarantine autism severity is significantly higher than prequarantine autism severity (p <.001). It also shows that there is a positive and significant relationship between screen time and ASD symptom severity (p<.001). When we examine the factors affecting the severity of ASD during the quarantine period, it is observed that the post-quarantine autism severity of children who do not receive special education, whose routines change, and whose problems of behaviour, screen time, sleep, nutrition increase, is significantly higher than the pre-quarantine autism severity. In addition, the severity of ASD during the quarantine process shows that there is a significant differentiation among the monthly income and the home of the children's family, the education level of the mother, and the people who take care of the child (p <.05). However, there is no significant difference among the number of siblings, the number of people with whom they live, the age of the parents, the education level of the father and the groups whose drug treatments delayed (p > .05). Result, during the Covid-19 pandemic quarantine process, it was concluded that the ASD severity of children with ASD increased in post-quarantine compared to prequarantine, therefore it is important to prepare an action plan to improve the factors affecting ASD severity. Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, covid-19 pandemic, quarantine, ASD severity