OBJECTIVE: To explore socio-demographics and clinical characteristics of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at Child Development Clinic (CDC), Penang Hospital.
STUDY DESIGN: A record review study of 331 children with ASD attending CDC, Penang Hospital from September 2013 to April 2017.
RESULTS: Out of 331 children with ASD, 82.5% were males, 17.5% females, with male to female ratio of 4.7:1. Mean age at consultation was 5 years and 6 months (SD 31.68 months) with age range from 19 months to 18 years and 4 months. 85.8% were term infants with normal birth weight. History of speech regression was noted in 14.8%, epilepsy and genetic disorders in 9.4% and 5.7% respectively. Sleep problems was reported in 29.3%, dietary issues 22.1%, challenging behaviour 24.2% and ADHD 14.2%. Mean age of the father and mother at birth was 33.6 and 31.6 years respectively.
CONCLUSION: In this study, we report a higher male to female ratio and mean age at referral with some similar rates of neurodevelopmental and medical comorbidities and relatively younger parental age with higher parental education levels.