An estimation of the prevalence of intellectual disabilities and its association with age in rural and urban populations in India

Abstract

Background:Intellectual disability (ID) is a global public health concern. Prevalence of ID and its association with age and other demographic factors is required for planning purposes in India.Objective:This study analyzed the age-adjusted prevalence of ID in rural and urban populations and its correlation with age in children and adults.Materials and Methods:Disability data published in the report (2002) of National Sample Survey Organization were analyzed, using Z-test to measure differences in age-adjusted prevalence. Spearman rho was calculated to determine strength and direction of the association, and regression analysis was used to predict prevalence rate, based on age in rural and urban population settings.Results:Overall, India has a prevalence of 10.5/1000 in ID. Urban population has slightly higher rate (11/1000) than rural (10.08/1000; P = 0.044). Age was found to be highly correlated with prevalence of ID in rural children (ϱ =0.981, P = 0.019) as well as in children (ϱ = −0.954, P = 0.000) and adults (ϱ = −0.957, P = 0.000) in urban population. The possibility of confounding or the existence of covariates for children in urban settings was noted.Conclusion:Results of this study match findings in other epidemiological studies. However, multistage, large-scale studies are recommended for investigating prevalence rates with different severity levels of ID.

Systematic Review of the Prevalence and Incidence of Intellectual Disabilities: Current Trends and Issues

“…Seven studies (from six articles) used national household surveys [40,46,48,54,56,57] and 16 studies (from 12 articles) used administrative data (health, education, social services, or national registries) [42-44, 45•, 47, 49, 50•, 51-53, 55]. Of the survey-based studies, three were from the United States [48,54,56], and the others were from Canada (n = 2) [40], China (n = 1) [40], and India (n = 1) [57]; three reported Table 1 for number of articles lost to each exclusion criteria [48,54,56], two on adults (age ranges 18+ and 20+) [46], and two on children/adolescents and adults (age range 0+) [40,57].…”

“…Seven studies (from six articles) used national household surveys [40,46,48,54,56,57] and 16 studies (from 12 articles) used administrative data (health, education, social services, or national registries) [42-44, 45•, 47, 49, 50•, 51-53, 55]. Of the survey-based studies, three were from the United States [48,54,56], and the others were from Canada (n = 2) [40], China (n = 1) [40], and India (n = 1) [57]; three reported Table 1 for number of articles lost to each exclusion criteria [48,54,56], two on adults (age ranges 18+ and 20+) [46], and two on children/adolescents and adults (age range 0+) [40,57]. The studies relying on administrative data were from seven different countries across North America (three from USA [32,53,55], three from Canada [45•]), Europe (three from Finland [47], one each from Denmark [42] and Norway [49]), and the Asia-Pacific region (two from Australia [43,44], three from Taiwan [50•, 51, 52]); these were fairly evenly spread across studies of children/ adolescents (n = 6; age ranges 0-15, 3-17, 8, 6-17) [32, 47, 50•, 51-53], adults (n = 5; age ranges 18+, 18-64, and 65+) [43, 45•, 47], and both children/adolescents and adults (n = 5; age ranges 6-19, 16-64, 0+, 3-21) [42,44,47,49,55].…”

Genetic basis of poor scholastic performance among children: A review

“…Urban population has slightly higher rate being at 1.1% as compared to rural being at 1.008%. Age was found to be highly correlated with prevalence among children of rural areas (Lakhan et al 2015). Once the critical period of adolescence and school attendance is over, however, many of the mildly mentally handicapped are assimilated into society and join the ranks of the dull-normal, living for the most part in marginal socio economic circumstances.…”

Gestational age at birth and risk of intellectual disability without a common genetic cause: findings from the Stockholm Youth Cohort

“…Individuals with intellectual disability have a reduced ability to understand new or complex information and to learn and apply new skills, resulting in a reduced ability to cope independently [2] . Intellectual disability is thought to affect over 1 percent of the population [3,4] although estimates vary with the demographic and socioeconomic composition of study populations [4,5] and with definitions and study design [5,6] . The cost of intellectual disability to individuals and society is substantial [7] and people living with these disabilities often face significant stigma [8] while encountering substantial health and social inequalities and early mortality [9] .…”