Page No.164-172
Smita A. Desai and Sanjeev V. Kothare
DRISHTI, Mumbai Children’s Hospital, Boston, USA
The purpose of this study was to collect data on the prevalence of Learning
Disabilities (LD) and Behaviour Disorders (BD) in a developing country like
India. Epidemiological data was obtained for a population of 333 children,
ages 3-14 years. An important referral complaint was speech and language
delays. Almost half of the referred population (46%) was diagnosed with LD
and 10% with BD (mainly with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) through
use of developmental, neuropsychological and psycho-educational
assessments. Birth encephalopathy (including low birth weight and preterm
birth) was present in 65% of the total population. Male to female ratio of the
referred population was 3:1. Accurate data on prevalence of LD and BD is
necessary for the development of appropriate assessment and intervention
strategies.
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