Autism Research: Contribution from the Arab WORLD

Background: Autism/autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) represents one of the more common neuro-developmental disorders. The true prevalence of ASD is still obscure given the lack of rigorous epidemiological studies in the Arab world as a whole. Reported prevalence rates from smaller studies in individual countries vary considerably (1.4-33.3 per 10,000)1. Research is one way to mitigate the limited servcies for these children and their families in the Arab world. However, autism research in that region is yet to be scrutinised.

Objectives: We aimed to comparatively review all published autism research originating from the Arab world in peer-reviewed English journals.

Methods: Studies where the sample and/or the afflition of one of the authors was from any of the 22 Arab countries was seareched in Medline through PudMed, Web of Science and EMBASE databases from 1946, 1947 and 1991, respectively, to January 2014.
Sutdies were coded for several variables including:1) country, 2) research area (i.e., based on the seven areas of research plan of the Autism Inteagency Coordinating Committee report, 2011), 3) methodology and desgin , 4) impact factor and 5) the number of authors per publication. The interrater reliability was 95%, which was calculated for 10 % of the studies using a point-by-point method. 

Results: Saudi Arabia and Egypt were the two most active countries, respectively producing 36% and 32% of autism research. The remainder of autism research originated from Oman (8%), UAE (6%), Kuwait (4%), Jordan (4%), Lebanon (3%), Bahrain, Libya, Morocco and Qatar (1% each). With respect the resreach area, 30 % , 21%, 14%, and 12% of the published studies were related to biology, dignostic and screenings, risk factors, and treatmetn and interventions, respectively. The mean impact factor of journals accepting contributions from the Arab world was 2.28 (SD=2.97 ) ranging from 0-31. With respect to the design, most of the studies were observational, 10 % or the studies were interventional in nature emplying randomised controlled trial desgin.

Conclusions: These findings indicate the urgent need to encourage higher-quality research in this area, as well as raise the awareness of local policy-makers in the Arab world to fund and publicise evidence-based information about autism and its management.
Taha, G. R., & Hussien, H. (2014). Autism Spectrum Disorders in Developing Countries: Lessons from the Arab World. In Patel., V.,B., Preedy V. R., & Martin, C. R. (Eds.), Comprehensive Guide to Autism (pp. 2509-2531). New York, NY, Springer.