Intellectual disability among special children and its associated factors: A case control study, Lahore Pakistan

Objective: To study the association of maternal, paternal and social factors with intellectual disability in special children. Methods: The case-control study was conducted in four schools of Lahore, Pakistan, from September 2014 to September 2015, and comprised intellectually disabled children aged 6-15 years, and an equal number of matching healthy subjects. group. Interviews were conducted with the help of a pre-tested structured questionnaire. SPSS -17 was utilised to analyse the data. Results: Of the 298 participants, 149(50%) each were cases and controls. Overall, there were 83(56%) boys and 66(44%) girls. Significant association of intellectual disability was found with consanguinity (p=0.001), father's educational status (p=0.03), paternal history of mental retardation (p=0.01) and history of delayed cry (p=0.001). Breastfeeding (depicted a protective relationship (p=0.03). Conclusion: Parental, social, environmental and familial causes contributed to intellectual disability among the subjects.