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Association of intellectual disability with demographic variables among the population of Lahore, Kasur, Jhang and Chunian, Punjab, Pakistan
Intellectual disability (ID) is a permanent condition caused by a neurodevelopmental abnormality that is diagnosed in childhood. ID is a disorder described by intellectual performance which is below average (IQ< 70). Based on IQ, ID is catagorized into different categories: mild, moderate, severe and profound. One of the highest documented incidence of intellectual disability (ID) among children worldwide is seen in Pakistan. Prevalence makes an estimate from 19.1/1000 for serious ID to 65/1000 for mild ID. A study was conducted from September 2023-September 2024 in which data was collected from different special education centers in Lahore, Kasur, Jhang, and Chunian, in Punjab, Pakistan. The questionnaires aimed to gather data on demographic variables like students' name age, gender, location, contact, and degree of intellectual disability (ID). The data collected was analyzed using SPSS. The sample data was found to be non-normally distributed therefore, non-parametric tests were used to analyze it. Results show that out of 350 patients, 64.3% were males and 35.7% were females. There were 30.3% (n=106), 60% (n=210), 8.3% (n=29), and 1.4% (n=5) of mild, moderate, severe, and profound ID cases, respectively. Also, Chunian and Jhang are the cities with the highest mean ranks 205.28 and 206.44, respectively, indicating higher degrees of impairment in these cities. Kasur (139.26) and Lahore (159.04) have lower mean ranks, indicating fewer significant disabilities. This study's primary goal is to educate those who have been identified as being at risk for ID, as well as their families, coworkers, and other people.
Keywords- Association, Demographic variables, Intellectual disability, Pakistan, Prevalence