RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: Early screening of autism increases the chance of receiving timely intervention. Using the Parent Report Questionnaires is effective in screening autism. The Q-CHAT is a new instrument that has shown several advantages than other screening tools. Because there is no adequate tool for the early screening of autistic traits in Iranian children, we aimed to investigate the adequacy of the Persian translation of Q-CHAT. METHOD: At first, we prepared the Persian translation of the Quantitative Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (Q-CHAT). After that, an appropriate sample was selected and the check list was administered. Our sample included 100 children in two groups (typically developing and autistic children) who had been selected conveniently. Pearson's r was used to determine test-retest reliability, and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to explore the internal consistency of Q-CHAT. We used the receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) to investigate whether Q-CHAT can adequately discriminate between typically developing and ASD children or not. Data analysis was carried out by SPSS 19. RESULT: The typically developing group consisted of 50 children with the mean age of 27.14 months, and the ASD group included50 children with the mean age of 29.62 months. The mean of the total score for the typically developing group was 22.4 (SD=6.26) on Q-CHAT and it was 50.94 (SD=12.35) for the ASD group, which was significantly different (p=0.00).The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the checklist was 0.886, and test-retest reliability was calculated as 0.997 (p<0.01). The estimated area under the curve (AUC) was 0.971. It seems that the total score equal to 30 can be a good cut point to identify toddlers who are at risk of autism (sensitivity= 0.96 and specificity= 0.90). CONCLUSION: The Persian translation of Q-CHAT has good reliability and predictive validity and can be used as a screening tool to detect 18 to 24 months old children who are at risk of autism.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: The phenomenon of street children is one of the most important concerns facing global community. Identifying risk factors in such children could lead to crucial investigations to find their essential needs by intervention programs. The present study examined the family profile of street children in Tehran, Iran. METHODS: The sample consisted of 576 street children who were evaluated by 15 examiners. Using multi-stage sampling, twenty-seven different areas of Tehran were divided into 5 clusters and the children were selected randomly from each cluster. The two questionnaires applied included a demographic questionnaire and a questionnaire about high-risk behaviors such as substance use, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, etc. RESULTS: There was a statistical significant association between the length of work time and two variables: sex and economic status of family (p < 0.05). Incarceration history of street children who had lost both their parents and their parents had been divorced was significantly higher than others (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The street children's lifestyle is a risk factor for affecting them to variety types of socio-mental problems. Statistical significant association between parental divorces or the loss of both parents with a history of conviction mentions the important role of parents in transmitting moral and social values to children.