METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 128 caregivers of children with ASD in Kota Bharu, Kelantan from May to August 2020, using convenience sampling. Validated questionnaires were used to assess the knowledge and attitudes toward children with ASD. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 24. Descriptive statistics and simple and multiple logistic regression analyses were then performed.
RESULTS: The response rate was 100%. The proportion of good knowledge and attitudes toward children with ASD among caregivers was 85.1% and 88.3%, respectively. Factors significantly associated with good knowledge were being female (OR (95% CI) 2.79 [0.99-7.90]) and ASD children being non-first-born children (OR (95% CI) 0.41 [0.15-1.12]). Factors significantly associated with good attitudes were age of 30 years and older (OR (95% CI) 0.13 [0.03-0.62]) and caregiver having other children with other types of learning difficulties (OR (95% CI) 0.15 [0.04, 0.52]).
CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of caregivers with good knowledge of ASD and good attitudes toward children with ASD was high. The caregiver's age and sex, the position of the ASD child among the siblings, and the presence of other types of learning disorders in the family need to be considered when managing children with ASD.
METHODS AND RESULTS: The library of 16S rDNA V3-V4 hypervariable regions of gut microbiota was amplified and sequenced using Illumina MiSeq. The sequencing data were analyzed using Quantitative Insights into Microbial Ecology (QIIME) pipeline and Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt). The most abundant bacterial phyla in both wild and captive T. tambroides were Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Cetobacterium spp., Peptostreptococcaceae family, Bacteroides spp., Phosphate solubilizing bacteria PSB-M-3, and Vibrio spp. were five most abundant OTU in wild T. tambroides as compared to Cetobacterium spp., Citrobacter spp., Aeromonadaceae family, Peptostreptococcaceae family and Turicibacter spp. in captive T. tambroides.
CONCLUSION: In this study, the specimens of the wild T. tambroides contain more diverse gut microbiota than of the captive ones. The results suggested that Cetobacterium spp. is one of the core microbiota in guts of T. tambroides. Besides, high abundant Bacteroides spp., Citrobacter spp., Turicibacter spp., and Bacillus spp. may provide important functions in T. tambroides guts.
SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The results of this study provide significant information of T. tambroides gut microbiota for further understanding of their physiological functions including growth and disease resistance.