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. 2023 Aug 22;23(1):1599.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-16489-8.

A national screening for the prevalence and profile of disability types among Egyptian children aged 6-12 years: a community-based population study

Ammal M Metwally  1 , Ebtissam M Salah El-Din  2 , Ghada A Abdel-Latif  3 , Dina A Nagi  4 , Lobna A El Etreby  3 , Ali M Abdallah  5 , Zeinab Khadr  6   7 , Randa I Bassiouni  4 , Ehab R Abdel Raouf  8 , Amal Elsaied  8 , Alshaimaa A Elkhatib  2 , Sara F Sallam  2 , Marwa M El-Sonbaty  2 , Manal A Shehata  2 , Nahed A Elghareeb  9 , Hala Y Badawy  9 , Doaa E Ahmed  3 , Nihad A Ibrahim  3 , Hanaa Emam  10 , Soha M Abd El Dayem  11 , Asmaa M Fathy  3
Affiliations

A national screening for the prevalence and profile of disability types among Egyptian children aged 6-12 years: a community-based population study

Ammal M Metwally et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of disability domains among Egyptian children in the age group of 6-12 years as well as assess their socio-demographic, epidemiological, and perinatal predictors.

Methods: A national population-based cross-sectional household survey targeting 20,324 children from eight governorates was conducted. The screening questionnaire was derived from the WHO ten-question survey tool validated for the identification of disabilities.

Results: The prevalence of children with at least one type of disability was 9.2%. Learning/ comprehension was the most prevalent type (4.2%), followed by speech/communication (3.7%), physical/ mobility and seizures (2.2% for each), intellectual impairment (1.5%), visual (0.7%), and hearing (0.4%). The commonest predictors for disabilities were children who suffered from convulsions or cyanosis after birth and maternal history of any health problem during pregnancy. However, preterm and low birth weight (LBW) babies or being admitted to incubators for more than two days were strong predictors for all disabilities except hearing disability. A history of jaundice after birth significantly carried nearly twice the odds for seizures (AOR = 2.2, 95% CI:1.5-3.4). History of difficult labor was a predictor of intellectual impairment (AOR = 1.5, 95% CI:1.1-2.0). A disabled mother was a strong predictor for all disabilities except seizures, while a disabled father was a predictor for visual and learning/ comprehension disabilities (AOR = 3.9, 95% CI:2.2-7.1 & AOR = 1.6, 95% CI:1.1-2.4 respectively). Meanwhile, both higher maternal and paternal education decreased significantly the odds to have, physical/ mobility and Learning/ comprehension by at least 30%.

Conclusion: The study found a high prevalence of disability among Egyptian children aged 6-12 years. It spotted many modifiable determinants of disability domains. The practice of early screening for disability is encouraged to provide early interventions.

Keywords: Communication; Disability, School age children, Children Aged 6–12 Years, Vision; Hearing; Mobility—Intellectual impairment; Seizures; Speech.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors report no conflict of interest. “No financial or non-financial benefits have been received or will be received from any party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this manuscript.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Prevalence of the various types of disabilities out of the 20,324 surveyed Egyptian children aged 6–12 years
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Prevalence of the types of disabilities by sex out of the 20,324 surveyed Egyptian children aged 6–12 years. ** = p-value highly sig at < 0.01
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Pattern of distribution of disabilities by age out of the 20,324 surveyed Egyptian children aged 6–12 years. ** = p-value highly sig at < 0.01 between 6—< 7 years and 11—12 years
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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