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. 2023 Sep 21;23(1):689.
doi: 10.1186/s12888-023-05171-3.

Prevalence and risk factors of disabilities among Egyptian preschool children: a community-based population study

Ammal M Metwally  1 , Ahmed Aboulghate  2 , Ghada A Elshaarawy  2 , Ali M Abdallah  3 , Ehab R Abdel Raouf  4 , Ebtissam M Salah El-Din  5 , Zeinab Khadr  6   7 , Mostafa M El-Saied  4 , Mona A Elabd  5 , Maysa S Nassar  5 , Marwa W Abouelnaga  5 , Engy A Ashaat  8 , Mohamed M El-Sonbaty  5 , Hala Y Badawy  9 , Eman M Dewdar  9 , Somia I Salama  2 , Mohamed Abdelrahman  2 , Aida M Abdelmohsen  2 , Sherif E Eldeeb  2 , Maie M Naga  2 , Nada H Elshamy  2 , Fatma A Shaaban  4 , Amira S ElRifay  5
Affiliations

Prevalence and risk factors of disabilities among Egyptian preschool children: a community-based population study

Ammal M Metwally et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Child disability has significant implications on their well-being and healthcare systems.

Aim: This survey aimed to assess the magnitude of seven types of disability among Egyptian children aged 1 < 6 years and their socio-demographic, epidemiological, and perinatal predictors.

Methods: A national population-based cross-sectional household survey targeting 21,316 children from eight governorates was conducted. The screening questionnaire was derived from the WHO ten-question survey tool validated for identifying seven disability categories.

Results: The percentage of children with at least one disability was 8.1% as follows: speech/communication (4.4%), Mobility/physical (2.5%), Seizures (2.2%), Comprehension (1.7%), Intellectual impairment (1.4%), Visual (0.3%) and Hearing (0.2%). Age was not found to affect the odds of disability except for visual disability (significantly increased with age (AOR = 1.4, 95% CI:1.1-1.7). Male sex also increased the odds of all disabilities except visual, hearing, and seizures. Convulsions after birth significantly increased the odds of disability as follows: hearing (AOR = 8.1, 95% CI: 2.2-30.5), intellectual impairment (AOR = 4.2, 95% CI: 2.5-6.9), and mobility/physical (AOR = 3.4, 95% CI: 2.3-5.0). Preterm delivery and being kept in an incubator for more than two days after birth increased the odds for visual disability (AOR = 3.7, 95% CI: 1.1-12.1 & AOR = 3.7, 95% CI: 1.7-7.9 respectively). Cyanosis increased the odds of seizures (AOR = 4.7, 95% CI: 2.2-10.3). Low birth weight also increased the odds for all disability domains except for visual and hearing. Maternal health problems during pregnancy increased the odds for all types of disability except hearing and seizures. Higher paternal education decreased the odds for all disabilities by at least 30% except for vision and hearing.

Conclusion: The study found a high prevalence of disability among Egyptian children aged 1-6 years. It identified a number of modifiable risk factors for disability. The practice of early screening for disability is encouraged to provide early interventions when needed.

Keywords: Communication; Disability; Hearing; Intellectual impairment; Mobility; Preschool children; Seizures; Speech; Vision.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Map of the 27 Egypt's governorates distributed within the four geographic regions (adapted using data from the Humanitarian Data Exchange under the CC BY-IGO license [22]
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Prevalence of the types of disabilities out of the 21,316 surveyed Egyptian children aged 1– < 6 year
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Prevalence of the types of disabilities by sex out of the 21,316 surveyed Egyptian children aged 1– < 6 year. ** = p-value highly sig at < 0.01
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Distribution of the types of disabilities per age group out of the 21,316 surveyed Egyptian children aged 1– < 6 year. ** = p-value highly sig at < 0.01
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Pattern of distribution of disabilities by age out of the 21,316 surveyed Egyptian children aged 1– < 6 year. ** = p-value highly sig at < 0.01
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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