Epidemiological characteristics of a sample of children with disability in Jordan

Abstract EN

Objective : To determine the most prevalent etiological factors of disabilities among children under 10 years of age at a handicap referral center in Jordan (center of early detection of handicapped).

Methods : This is a retrospective review of the records of 300 children under 10 years of age at a rehabilitation center in Amman performed from January 1998 - April 1998.

The data were collected from reviewing medical records followed by confirmatory telephone conservation and in person interview of families.

Results : The mean age of the study sample was seven years, but disabilities were more commonly observed among older children.

Sixty-five percent were males and 35 % were females.

Children from low-income status (below JD ISO) represented 57 % of the sample and single parent families 5 %, parental second-degree relatives accounted for 38 % of study sample.

It was found that 76 % of children and a single handicap, while 24 % of them had polyhandicap.

The results revealed different types of disabilities and etiology as follows: Mental retardation (57.7 %), due to : genetic (17.2 %), antenatal (16.5 %), peri-natal (38.5 %), postnatal (8.5 %) and unknown reasons (19.3%).

Limb paralysis (12%), deafness (2.7%) and blindness (1.3%) were less common.

Conclusion : The most common disability was found to be mental retardation, which is consistent with other international studies.