Study of the relevance of the problem of autism spectrum disorders for the clinical activities of doctors of different specialties planning to work in the field of physical and rehabilitation medicine

BACKGROUND: The problem of medical rehabilitation of patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is extremely urgent. The prevalence of ASD among the world's population is about 1%. It is known that children with ASD are difficult to respond to psychological and speech therapy correction and drug treatment. Today, one of the pressing issues is the choice of non-drug methods of treatment. Given the variety of functional disorders in ASD, these patients require special rehabilitation programs and therefore physicians planning work in the field of physical therapy and medical rehabilitation should be oriented in this problem.

AIMS: Of the study was to study the relevance of the ASD problem for the clinical activities of doctors of various specialties planning to work in the field of physical and rehabilitation medicine, their level of qualifications, activity and motivation in providing medical care to patients with ASD.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: A survey was conducted on the author's questionnaire of 116 doctors of 8 medical specialties who underwent primary retraining in the cycle "Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine" at the Department of Physical Therapy, Sports Medicine and Medical Rehabilitation of the RMANPO of the Ministry of Health of Russia.

RESULTS: The study showed that pediatricians and neurologists are significantly more likely to meet patients with ASD in their practice than doctors of other specialties (p <0.05). An analysis of the answers of all respondents indicates the importance of additional informing doctors about modern research on the problem of ASD. When asked "What sources of information about medical support for children with autism spectrum disorders would you definitely use" 81 (69.8%) respondents indicated seminars and conferences, 50 (43.1%) — Russian magazines, books, textbooks, 46 (39.7%) — special sites and materials of social networks, 30 (25.9%) — advanced training programs in the system of continuing professional education, the rest of the doctors preferred modern foreign literature and the experience of colleagues. Absolutely all respondents indicated the need for medical rehabilitation for children with ASD, however, 28 (24.1%) respondents believe that it is necessary to consider each case of the disease individually. The majority of the respondents indicated the expediency of sanatorium-resort treatment for patients with ASD. Doctors were also asked about the need to use basic ICF kits in the rehabilitation of patients with autism: 64 (55.2%) respondents answered positively, 44 (37.9%) found it difficult to answer and 8 (6.9%) gave a negative answer. In matters of non-drug treatment of patients with ASD, the leading positions are taken by: art therapy, hydrotherapy, music therapy, physiotherapy exercises and animal therapy. However, methods with proven effectiveness in this category of patients, such as transcranial forms of brain stimulation and biofeedback, were chosen by only 65.5% of respondents. Only 34.5% of respondents indicated the possibility of using Bobath therapy, Vojta therapy and PNF therapy in patients with ASD.

CONCLUSION: Doctors are not sufficiently knowledgeable in the field of modern methods of physical and rehabilitation medicine that can be successfully used in children with ASD. The totality of all the respondents' answers indicates the importance of additional informing doctors about modern research on the problem of ASD, as well as the need to implement educational programs that will take into account current trends in the development of physical and rehabilitation medicine for this category of patients.