Investigation of the Causes of Disability amongAdolescents Under 14 Years of Age inIlam during 2018

Disability is an unavoidable fact which has been existed as a social phenomenon in communities from the past until now. There are different reasons for the emergence of this phenomenon which can be identified and prevented, thereby lowering the incident rate of disability in communities. This descriptive-analytical study aimed at investigating the causes of disability among adolescents under 14 years of age in Ilam, Iran.

This study included 694 participants (336 males and 270 females) who were selected using a census sampling method. The data were collected through a researcher-made questioner, and subsequently, they were analyzed using descriptive (i.e., Frequency and Frequency percent) and inferential statistics (i.e., the Chi-square test). 

The results showed that consanguineous marriage, congenital factors, literacy, and gender correlated significantly with disability (P<0.0001). In total, 74.8% of the disability among individuals was related to congenital factors.

Regarding this fact that the majority of disabilities are related to congenital factors, more attention should be paid to the maternal health, illness, infections, good and efficient nutrition, affective and psychological problems, as well as exposure to air pollution during pregnancy which can have remarkable effects on children.