Scaria Liss Maria, Bhaskaran Deepa, George Babu
Child Development Centre, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
Indian J Psychol Med. 2023 May;45(3):213-219. doi: 10.1177/02537176221100128. Epub 2022 Jun 26.
Specific learning disorders (SLD) comprise varied conditions with ongoing problems in one of the three areas of educational skills-reading, writing, and arithmetic-which are essential for the learning process. There is a dearth of systematic reviews focused exclusively on the prevalence of SLD in India. Hence, this study was done to estimate the prevalence of SLD in Indian children.
A systematic search of electronic databases of MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and CINAHL was conducted. Two authors independently assessed the eligibility of the full-text articles. The third author reassessed all selected studies. A standardized data extraction form was developed and piloted. The pooled prevalence of SLDs was estimated from the reported prevalence of eligible studies, using the random-effects model.
Six studies of the systematic review included the diagnostic screening of 8133 children. The random-effects meta-analysis showed that the overall pooled prevalence of SLD in India was 8% (95% CI = 4-11). The tools used to diagnose SLD in the studies were the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS)-SLD index and the Grade Level Assessment Device (GLAD).
Nearly 8% of children up to 19 years have SLD. There are only a few high-quality, methodologically sound, population-based epidemiological studies on this topic. There is a pressing need to have large population-based surveys in India, using appropriate screening and diagnostic tools. Constructing standardized assessment tools, keeping in view the diversity of Indian culture, is also necessary.
特定学习障碍（SLD）包含多种情况，在学习过程所必需的阅读、写作和算术这三项教育技能领域中的某一个领域持续存在问题。专门针对印度特定学习障碍患病率的系统评价较为匮乏。因此，开展本研究以估算印度儿童中特定学习障碍的患病率。
对MEDLINE、Embase、PsycINFO和CINAHL电子数据库进行系统检索。两位作者独立评估全文文章的 eligibility。第三位作者对所有选定研究进行重新评估。开发并试用了标准化数据提取表。使用随机效应模型，根据符合条件研究报告的患病率估算特定学习障碍的合并患病率。
系统评价的六项研究纳入了对8133名儿童的诊断筛查。随机效应荟萃分析表明，印度特定学习障碍的总体合并患病率为8%（95%CI = 4 - 11）。研究中用于诊断特定学习障碍的工具是国家心理健康和神经科学研究所（NIMHANS）-特定学习障碍指数和年级水平评估工具（GLAD）。
19岁以下儿童中近8%患有特定学习障碍。关于这一主题，仅有少数高质量、方法合理的基于人群的流行病学研究。印度迫切需要使用适当的筛查和诊断工具开展大规模基于人群的调查。考虑到印度文化的多样性，构建标准化评估工具也很有必要。
