BACKGROUND Autism is a biological disorder with clearly defined phenomenology. Studies from the Middle East on this topic have been particularly rare. Little is known about the influence of culture on clinical features, presentations and management of autism. The current study was done to compare characteristics of autism in two groups of Egyptian as well as Saudi children. METHODS The sample included 48 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. They were recruited from the Okasha Institute of Psychiatry, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt and Al-Amal Complex for Mental Health, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They were grouped into an Egyptian group (n = 20) and a Saudi group (n = 28). They were assessed both clinically and psychometrically using the GARS, the Vineland adaptive behavioral scale, and the Stanford Binnet IQ test. RESULTS Typical autism was more prevalent than atypical autism in both groups. There were no statistically significant differences in clinical variables like regression, hyperactivity, epilepsy or mental retardation. Delayed language development was significantly higher in the Egyptian group while delay in all developmental milestones was more significant in the Saudi group. The Vineland communication subscale showed more significant severe and profound communication defects in the Saudi group while the Gilliam developmental subscale showed significantly more average scores in the Egyptian group. Both groups differed significantly such that the age of noticing abnormality was younger in the Saudi group. The age at diagnosis and at the commencement of intervention was lower in the Egyptian group. The Saudi group showed a higher percentage of missing examinations, older birth order and significantly higher preference to drug treatment, while the Egyptian group showed a high preference to behavioral and phoniatric therapies, higher paternal and maternal education, higher employment among parents and higher family concern. CONCLUSION Cultural context may significantly influence the age of noticing abnormality, the age of starting intervention, developmental and perinatal problems, family concerns about managing the problem as well as familial tendency for neurodevelopmental disorders, all of which have important impact on clinical symptomatology and severity of autism. Culture also influences significantly the ways of investigating and treating autism.

中文翻译：

---

埃及和沙特患者样本中自闭症谱系障碍的特征：跨文化横断面研究。


背景自闭症是一种具有明确定义的现象学的生物学疾病。中东关于这一主题的研究尤其罕见。人们对文化对自闭症临床特征、表现和治疗的影响知之甚少。目前的研究是为了比较埃及和沙特两组儿童的自闭症特征。方法 样本包括 48 名患有自闭症谱系障碍的儿童。他们是从埃及开罗艾因夏姆斯大学奥卡沙精神病学研究所和沙特阿拉伯王国达曼的阿迈勒心理健康中心招募的。他们被分为埃及组 (n = 20) 和沙特组 (n = 28)。使用 GARS、Vineland 适应性行为量表和斯坦福 Binnet IQ 测试对他们进行临床和心理测量评估。结果 在两组中，典型自闭症比非典型自闭症更为普遍。退化、多动、癫痫或精神发育迟滞等临床变量没有统计学上的显着差异。埃及组的语言发展延迟明显较高，而沙特组的所有发展里程碑的延迟更为显着。瓦恩兰沟通分量表显示沙特组中更显着的严重和深刻的沟通缺陷，而吉列姆发展分量表显示埃及组中明显更高的平均分。两组之间存在显着差异，沙特组注意到异常的年龄更年轻。埃及组的诊断年龄和开始干预年龄较低。 沙特组表现出更高的错过检查比例、较早的出生顺序以及对药物治疗的显着更高的偏好，而埃及组则表现出对行为和语音治疗的高度偏好、更高的父亲和母亲教育、更高的父母就业和更高的家庭关注。结论 文化背景可能显着影响发现异常的年龄、开始干预的年龄、发育和围产期问题、家庭对处理问题的担忧以及神经发育障碍的家族倾向，所有这些都对临床症状和严重程度产生重要影响。自闭症。文化也显着影响自闭症的调查和治疗方式。