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Non-health sciences students’ awareness and stigma of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): a cross-sectional study
Nina Keterina Hashim1, Razif Dasiman2, Jeremie Ng3, Nur Nadirah Hasnul4, Fatin Nadzirah Zakaria5, Alia Md Yusof6.
Introduction: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with poor social con- tact, communication, and recurring behavioral habit. People’s acceptance and awareness have been recognized as critical factors for autistics to be integrated into the communities because autistics are often stigmatized. The degree of ASD knowledge in Malaysia is still unclear, and ASD studies in non-health sciences or non-medical background people remain scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the level of awareness and stigma towards ASD, focusing on the non-health sciences students in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Selangor. Methods: A cross-sec- tional online survey was conducted on 375 respondents from non-health sciences students in UiTM Puncak Alam, Selangor. The students were given a validated questionnaire to obtain demographic data and assess their awareness and stigma towards ASD. Awareness and stigma levels were then correlated. Any significant difference between the levels of awareness and stigma with demographic data was determined. Results: The awareness and stigma levels were slightly higher than average, and there was a weak negative correlation between awareness and stigma levels. There was no significant difference between demographic data and the levels of awareness and stigma. Conclusion: The non-health sciences students were marginally aware regarding ASD. However, the negative and poor asso- ciation between the awareness and stigma towards ASD may suggest that some respondents still have a stigmatic attitude towards autistic individuals. Education regarding ASD is needed in improving awareness among non-health sciences students in the university.
Affiliation:
- Maternofetal and Embryo Research Group (MatE), Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sungai Buloh Campus, 47000 Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia
- Maternofetal and Embryo Research Group (MatE), Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sungai Buloh Campus, 47000 Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia
- Maternofetal and Embryo Research Group (MatE), Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sungai Buloh Campus, 47000 Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia
- Universiti Teknologi MARA Selangor Branch, 42300 Puncak Alam, Selangor Malaysia., Malaysia
- Universiti Teknologi MARA Selangor Branch, 42300 Puncak Alam, Selangor Malaysia., Malaysia
- Universiti Teknologi MARA Selangor Branch, 42300 Puncak Alam, Selangor Malaysia., Malaysia
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Indexation |
Indexed by |
MyJurnal (2021) |
H-Index
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3 |
Immediacy Index
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0.000 |
Rank |
0 |
Indexed by |
Scopus 2020 |
Impact Factor
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CiteScore (0.2) |
Rank |
Q4 (Medicine (all)) |
Additional Information |
SJR (0.144) |
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