Factors Relating to Parent’s Decision of Treatment for Their Children with Autism in Vietnam

Background: Vietnam has not officially considered autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a disability and there has not been an official national guide for ASD treatment. Most Vietnamese parents have to make treatment decisions for their children with ASD own their own.

Objectives: This study aims to examine the status of Vietnamese parents’ choices for treatment services for their children with ASD.

Methods: A questionnaire included items about informant’s demographic information, information of their child(ren) with ASD, and possible factors that may relate to parents’ choices of intervention was created based on literature review and some parents and professional interviews. One hundred and eighteen parents from 5 provinces in Northern Vietnam participated in the study.

Results: Parents’ choices of treatment varies with evidence-based as well as non-evidenced treatments. Family economy status was negatively correlated with non-evidenced treatments (r=-0.402, p<0.05); characteristics of children with autism (e.g. severity, skill level) had positive correlations with evidence-based (r=0,264; p = 0.01); and child’s general functional level had negative correlations with evidence-based (r=-0.261; p=0.01). Parents’ frequencies of looking for information are related to autism and the treatment methods; time accessing information sources; intervention locations; and parents’ emotions significantly predicted evidence-based versus non-evidence treatment choices. Finally, the younger children are, the more parents hesitate in selecting interventions for children.

Conclusions: This is one of the first studies in Vietnam looking at parents’ selecting behaviors and the correlates, which implies multiple suggestions for practice and research. Suggestions for future research directions, as well as policy and practice was provided to better support Vietnamese parents.