An Epidemiological Study on the Cause of Intellectual Disability in Ujjain and Shajapur Districts of Central India

Intellectual disability which is significant limitation in adaptive behavior has highly variable etiology.

The study investigated the cause of intellectual disability in 204 individuals receiving rehabilitation services in a special school and its outreach settings i.e. integrated training centers (ITC) under a NGO serving Ujjain and Shajapur districts of Central India.

Among prenatal causes genetic or chromosomal anomalies were the most frequent cause found in 21 individuals. Down syndrome stands out with 16 cases out of 21 individuals with all cases with either severe or moderate mental retardation. Perinatal cause's disability includes 16 individuals with 13 of them with Asphyxia neonatorum as the cause for ID. Among the postnatal causes encephalitis in 14 individuals and head trauma and meningitis in 8 individuals each were most commonly reported.

Our study demonstrated that individuals with severe mental retardation with a known cause were mainly affected by genetic or chromosomal anomalies. The cause of mental retardation was harder to determine in individuals with mild and moderate mental retardation, and many of those with mild MR with an uncertain cause had a positive family history. The above findings point out the need for prenatal diagnosis and genetic counseling in certain cases, requiring careful attention to ethical issues.