The prevalence of childhood disability in Clarendon, Jamaica - abstract

ABSTRACT

The experience of the epidemiological transition for developing countries is leading to a revision of paediatric priorities, with increasing concern for the problem of childhood disabilities. Their exists a lack of knowledge of the profile of disability occurrence in Caribbean communities. In a community-based study in the parish of Clarendon, Jamaica, done between 1986 and 1989, the prevalence of six types of childhood disabilities was sought. Within a defined area, data were collected on 5,468 children aged 2-9 years via household surveys. All children screening positive for disability, together with a sample of `normal' children, were assessed by a physician and a psychologist. Disabilities were categorised by types and levels. The prevalence rate for all types and degrees of disabilities was 93 per 1,000 children and for severe disability, 5.4 per 1,000 children. The rates for specific disabilities showed wide variation (cognitive - 81/1000, speech - 14/1000, visual - 10/1000, hearing - 9/1000, motor - 4/1000 and seizure -2.0/1000), with cognitive problems either singly or in combination accounting for a large segment of the disability profile. Seventy per cent of disabled children had only one disability, 23 per cent had two and 6 per cent had three and four. A literature review reveals no data on prevalence for the region that would make meaningful comparisons. International comparisons are difficult, due to conceptual and methodological dissimilarities. The prevalence of childhood disabilities for Clarendon suggests that this aspect of children's functioning should be given greater emphasis by planners and policy-makers. If disability is to be seen as the final outcome of a range of interacting factors, then these prevalence rates, taken with the specific aetiologies, would provide a framework for planning intervention (AU)