Department of Special Education, College of Education, Majmaah University, Majmaah 11952, Saudi Arabia.
Res Dev Disabil. 2024 Sep;152:104812. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2024.104812. Epub 2024 Jul 29.
Dyslexia is one of the most common learning disabilities. It poses challenges in reading skills development and can have a lasting impact in other areas of learning.
To investigate the prevalence of developmental dyslexia among primary school children aged 6-13 in Arab countries, and to explore associations with gender and residency.
Following the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines, we included studies up to December 2023 that were found in English and Arabic research database searches. Random-effects proportional meta-analyses determined the prevalence of dyslexia in Arab countries, with a direct comparison between girls and boys using odds ratios.
The meta-analysis included 18 studies with 30,243 participants: eight studies (44 %) from Egypt, four (22 %) from Saudi Arabia, and six (34 %) from other Arab countries. The pooled prevalence of dyslexia for children aged 6-13 in these studies was 11 %. The odds ratio for girls vs. boys was 0.85 (95 %). Geographical variations were notable, with eight studies (44 %) from Asia and ten (56 %) from Africa. Eight studies (44 %) were from the Gulf region, while ten (56 %) were from non-Gulf region. Prevalence of dyslexia was significantly higher in Arab countries in Asia (24 %) than in Africa (12 %), and the prevalence in non-Gulf countries was 13 % which was nearly half in comparison to Gulf countries (24 %).
The prevalence rates of dyslexia in primary school children varies across the Arab world, with higher rates among boys, Arab countries in Asia, and Gulf countries. Further research is needed to include both genders and standardized diagnostics across more Arab countries to understand and address dyslexia effectively.
阅读障碍是最常见的学习障碍之一。它在阅读技能发展方面带来挑战，并可能对学习的其他领域产生持久影响。
调查阿拉伯国家 6-13 岁小学生发展性阅读障碍的流行率，并探讨其与性别和居住地的关联。
根据《加强观察性研究的报告：流行病学（STROBE）指南》，我们纳入了截至 2023 年 12 月以英语和阿拉伯语研究数据库检索到的研究。使用优势比（odds ratio）对来自阿拉伯国家的阅读障碍流行率进行随机效应比例荟萃分析，并直接比较女孩和男孩之间的差异。
荟萃分析纳入了 18 项研究，涉及 30243 名参与者：8 项研究（44%）来自埃及，4 项（22%）来自沙特阿拉伯，6 项（34%）来自其他阿拉伯国家。这些研究中 6-13 岁儿童阅读障碍的总患病率为 11%。女孩与男孩的比值比（odds ratio）为 0.85（95%置信区间）。地理位置差异显著，其中 8 项研究（44%）来自亚洲，10 项（56%）来自非洲。8 项研究（44%）来自海湾地区，10 项（56%）来自非海湾地区。阿拉伯国家中亚洲的阅读障碍患病率（24%）明显高于非洲（12%），非海湾国家的患病率（13%）接近海湾国家（24%）的一半。
阿拉伯世界各国小学生阅读障碍的流行率存在差异，男孩、亚洲阿拉伯国家和海湾国家的流行率较高。需要进一步研究，包括阿拉伯国家的两性和标准化诊断，以更好地理解和有效解决阅读障碍问题。
