A first-of-its-kind study to determine the prevalence of autism in the region has found that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is prevalent in 1.14% or one in every 87 children in Qatar.
The study by Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI), of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), has also found that one in 56 boys and one in 230 girls have ASD in Qatar.
From the results, and based on the 2016 census, the study estimates that approximately 4,791 individuals in Qatar between the ages of one and 20 years have ASD. The results of the study were recently published in the internationally-acclaimed journal on child & adolescent psychology and psychiatry, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, the official journal of the UK-based Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
The intensive six-year study on the Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Qatar – the first-of-its-kind to be conducted in Qatar and the Gulf region was carried out by QBRI’s Neurological Disorders Research Center (NDRC), which focuses on investigating the increasing prevalence of neurological disorders in Qatar and the region, including conditions such as ASD.
Dr Fouad Al Shaban, a senior scientist at NDRC, QBRI, spearheaded the unprecedented research study, which aimed to estimate the prevalence of ASD among Qatari families and other families residing in Qatar, and establish an autism database and disease registry. The database was developed to provide descriptive data on the classification and phenotyping of the population of children diagnosed with ASD to assess the effect of certain risk factors on the prevalence rate.
Dr Shaban, said, “The study is the first-of-its-kind that set about to determine the prevalence of autism in Qatar and the region. We are proud to make the findings available to the international medical community, and it is our hope that the outcomes will be used to inform future studies on autism.
Phase 1 of the study involved the screening of 9,074 primary school students aged 5 to 12 years from 93 public and private schools by using the Social Communication Questionnaire screening tool after translation and validation to the Arabic language. Phase 2 extended the study to include hospitals and special needs centres offering services to individuals with ASD, such as Rumailah Hospital and Al Shafallah Center for Persons with Disabilities, the two primary government centres engaged in the study. Both phases reflect similar prevalence rates of approximately 1.146%.
In addition, although the consanguinity rate is around 52% across the GCC and Middle East, our findings don’t show a significant correlation between consanguinity and the prevalence rate of ASD in Qatar; which is supported by the fact that ASD is a multi-genetic disorder with no direct causal link to consanguinity. Meanwhile, the study found that consanguinity is related to the severity of ASD.”
Overall, the study found the prevalence of ASD in Qatar to be higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) average of 0.6 to 1 percent, although the study variables and methodology may vary.
Dr Omar El Agnaf, Executive Director, QBRI, said: “We are extremely proud of the efforts of all those who have supported QBRI from the outset of the study. The generous support received from Qatar National Research Fund set the ball in motion and made this unprecedented study possible. The success and findings of this study is testament to what can be achieved through a collective vision to spearhead research that will pave the way for advancements in healthcare.”
These findings have enabled researchers, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health, to create and complete Qatar’s first autism registry using the data of 1,300 individuals with ASD, which will be made available to researchers with a particular interest in neurological disorders.
