Table I. Questionnaire variables. |
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Demographic characteristics |
1. Gender (male/female) |
2. Age (in years) |
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3. Mother and father age (in years) |
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4. Mother and father education (less than 12 years; 12 years; university or higher) |
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5. Mother and father job |
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6. Household size (number of persons) |
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7. Type of house With/without outdoor space Apartment/villa |
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Personal history |
8. Medical history ADHD diagnosis None/other diseases |
Quarantine details |
9. First day of quarantine |
10. How long is the child at home? (in days) |
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11. Did the child already went out? (Yes/No) If yes, how many times? |
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12. Did school provide home classes? (Yes/No) |
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13. Extracurricular activities before quarantine? (Yes/No) If yes, did he/she maintain it? |
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14. Did child maintain routines at home? (Yes/No) |
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15. Were tasks at home given to the child? (Yes/No) |
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16. Did child experienced or learnt something new? (Yes/No) |
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17. Did the child’s behavior change? (Yes/No) |
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18. What was the biggest challenge for the child? |
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19. What was the biggest challenge for the caregiver? |
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20. Impact of the quarantine in: Learning (positive/negative/none) Emotion management (positive/negative/none) Personal development (positive/negative/none) Relation with relatives (positive/negative/none) |
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21. Child anxiety score (0 to 10) |
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22. Caregivers/parents anxiety score (0 to 10) |
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23. Child adaptation to quarantine score (0 to 10) |
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24. Caregivers/parents adaptation to quarantine score (0 to 10) |
Table II. Results concerning to demographic characteristics. |
|||||
All (n = 99) |
ASD (n = 43) |
Control (n = 56) |
p |
||
Age (years) |
10.75 ± 3.13 |
9.86 ± 3.08 |
11.43 ± 3.03 |
0.013 |
|
Gender |
Male |
68 (68.7%) |
38 (88.4%) |
30 (53.6%) |
< 0.001 |
Female |
31 (31.3%) |
5 (11.6%) |
26 (46.4%) |
||
School grade (years) |
5.22 ± 3.07 |
4.19 ± 2.98 |
6.02 ± 2.92 |
0.003 |
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Mother age (years) |
43.74 ± 4.02 |
43.16 ± 4.76 |
44.2 ± 3.28 |
0.206 |
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Mother education |
< 12 years |
17 (17.2%) |
12 (28%) |
5 (9.3%) |
0.021 |
12 years |
19 (19.2%) |
10 (23.2%) |
9 (16.7%) |
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University |
61 (61.6%) |
21 (44.8%) |
40 (74%) |
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Father age (years) |
45.50 ± 5.09 |
45.83 ± 6.02 |
45.26 ± 5.33 |
0.597 |
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Father education |
< 12 years |
11 (11.1%) |
8 (20%) |
3 (5.6%) |
0.082 |
12 years |
25 (25.3%) |
12 (30%) |
13 (24%) |
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University |
58 (58.6%) |
20 (50%) |
38 (70.4%) |
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Household size |
3.71 ± 0.85 |
3.70 ± 0.83 |
3.71 ± 0.87 |
0.924 |
|
Type of habitation |
Apartment with outdoor space |
28 (28.3%) |
12 (27.9%) |
16 (28.6%) |
0.420 |
Apartment without outdoor space |
26 (26.3%) |
14 (32.6%) |
12 (21.4%) |
||
Villa with outdoor space |
45 (45.5%) |
17 (39.5%) |
28 (50%) |
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ASD: autism spectrum disorder. |
Table III. Results concerning to details of quarantine. |
|||||
|
All (n = 99) |
ASD (n = 43) |
Control (n = 56) |
p |
|
Days in quarantine |
38.35 ± 9.14 |
43.86 ± 9.25 |
34.21 ± 6.55 |
< 0.001 |
|
Went out during quarantine? |
60 (60.6%) |
29 (67.4%) |
31 (55.4%) |
0.223 |
|
How many times? (days) |
2.66 ± 5.09 |
0.28 ± 0.59 |
4.53 ± 6.41 |
< 0.001 |
|
Extracurricular activity |
79 (79.8%) |
31 (72.1%) |
48 (85.7%) |
0.094 |
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Maintain extracurricular activity |
19 (24.1%) |
6 (19.4%) |
13 (27.1%) |
0.433 |
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Maintain routines |
83 (83.8%) |
39 (90.7%) |
44 (46.8%) |
0.104 |
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Tasks at home |
71 (71.7%) |
30 (69.8%) |
41 (72.6%) |
0.706 |
|
New experience |
52 (52.5%) |
28 (60.5%) |
26 (46.4%) |
||
Behaviour change |
49 (50.5%) |
31 (72.1%) |
18 (32.1%) |
< 0.001 |
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Type of behaviour change |
Better |
11 (22.4%) |
5 (16.1%) |
6 (33.3%) |
0.164 |
Worse |
38 (77.6%) |
26 (83.9%) |
12 (66.7%) |
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Learning impact |
Positive |
17 (17.2%) |
6 (14%) |
11 (19.6%) |
0.572 |
Negative |
48 (48.5%) |
20 (46.5%) |
28 (50%) |
||
None |
34 (34.3%) |
17 (39.5%) |
17 (30.4%) |
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Impact in development |
Positive |
38 (38.4%) |
15 (34.9%) |
23 (41.1%) |
0.518 |
Negative |
33 (33.3%) |
17 (39.5%) |
16 (28.6%) |
||
None |
28 (28.3%) |
11 (25.6%) |
17 (30.4%) |
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Impact in emotions |
Positive |
31 (31.3%) |
11 (25.6%) |
20 (35.7%) |
0.020 |
Negative |
40 (40.4%) |
24 (55.8%) |
16 (28.6%) |
||
None |
28 (28.3%) |
8 (18.6%) |
20 (35.7%) |
||
Impact in family relations |
Positive |
52 (52.5%) |
19 (44.2%) |
33 (58.9%) |
0.298 |
Negative |
14 (14.1%) |
8 (18.6%) |
6 (10.7%) |
||
None |
33 (33.3%) |
16 (37.2%) |
17 (30.4%) |
||
Child anxiety score (0 to 10) |
4.53 ± 2.90 |
5.67 ± 2.78 |
3.64 ± 2.70 |
< 0.001 |
|
Parents anxiety score (0 to 10) |
6.34 ± 2.53 |
7.37 ± 2.37 |
5.55 ± 2.37 |
< 0.001 |
|
Child adaptation score (0 to 10) |
7.39 ± 2.38 |
7.49 ± 2.03 |
7.32 ± 2.64 |
0.723 |
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Parents adaptation score (0 to 10) |
6.80 ± 2.20 |
6.86 ± 1.97 |
6.75 ± 2.38 |
0.806 |
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ASD: autism spectrum disorder. |
Impacto de la COVID-19 en niños con trastorno del espectro autista Introducción. Los niños con trastorno del espectro autista (TEA) a menudo experimentan el cambio de rutinas como un desafío importante. La necesidad de adaptación durante la pandemia por la COVID-19 puede haber causado problemas a estos niños. Objetivo. Conocer cómo vivieron los niños con TEA y sus familias el aislamiento social durante la cuarentena. Sujetos y métodos. Se realizó un estudio observacional, transversal y analítico. Se aplicó un cuestionario anónimo que incluía las características demográficas y clínicas de los niños, junto con el impacto que tuvo la pandemia en diferentes aspectos de la vida diaria de las familias. Resultados. De los 99 cuestionarios obtenidos, 43 eran niños con TEA y 56 niños del grupo control. Los niños con TEA tuvieron predominantemente cambios en el comportamiento, a diferencia de los del grupo control. La mayoría de los niños con TEA tuvo un impacto negativo en el manejo de las emociones frente a los del grupo control, que expresaron un impacto mayoritariamente positivo/nulo. Los cuidadores puntuaron niveles de ansiedad más altos en ellos mismos que en sus hijos. Los niños con TEA y sus padres tenían niveles más altos de ansiedad que los controles. En el grupo con TEA, los niños que no mantuvieron las rutinas tuvieron niveles de ansiedad más altos. Conclusión. Los resultados muestran un potencial impacto psicológico de la pandemia de la COVID-19 no sólo en los niños con trastornos del neurodesarrollo, sino también en sus cuidadores. Debe estarse preparado para la vigilancia de los trastornos mentales en las familias tras la pandemia de la COVID-19. Palabras clave. Ansiedad. Comportamiento adaptativo. COVID-19. Estrés. Salud mental. TEA. |