Intellectual Disability in Morocco: A Pilot Study.

Journal: Innovations in clinical neuroscience

Volume: 17

Issue: 10-12

Year of Publication: 

Affiliated Institutions:  Drs. Benmakhlouf, Zian, Ghailani Nourouti, Barakat, and Bennani Mechita are with Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics Research Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques of Tangier, at Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Morocco, in Tétouan, Morocco.

Abstract summary 

Intellectual disability (ID) is a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by a congenital limitation in intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviour. Our present work aimed to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics in a series of Moroccan individuals with ID living in Fez city and its regions. It was a prospective and descriptive exploratory monocentric study carried out between October 2014 and July 2019. We selected 186 patients diagnosed with ID at three different centers in Fez city. The data were processed and analyzed using the IBM SPSS version 24. Our data revealed a high frequency of male patients with ID (67.2% in male patients vs. 32.8% in female patients). The male-to-female ratio was 2.04. The mean age of our patients was 15.52 ±6.59 years (mean±SD), ranging between 2 and 36 years. The mean age of fathers and mothers at the birth of their child with ID was 36 and 28 years, respectively. Several abnormal behaviors were observed: 23.1 percent delayed language learning, 17.7 percent anxiety, 12.9 percent aggressiveness, 19.18 percent concentration problems, and 5.4 percent hyperactivity. Epileptic seizures were the most common mental health disorder (21.72%) observed in our patients. Approximately 25 percent of patients with epilepsy took antiepileptic and/or neuroleptics to prevent the occurrence of seizures. A significant correlation was observed between ID associated to genetic causes and the increase of consanguinity rate.

Authors & Co-authors:  Benmakhlouf Yousra Y Zian Zeineb Z Ben Makhlouf Kaoutar K Ghailani Nourouti Naima N Barakat Amina A Bennani Mechita Mohcine M

Study Outcome 

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Statistics
Citations :  Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (Inserm) site. Montrouge: EDP Sciences; 2016. Déficiences Intellectuelles. Collection Expertise collective. pp. 15–1157.http://hdl.handle.net/10608/6816 Accessed 14 November 2020.
Authors :  6
Identifiers
Doi : 
SSN : 2158-8333
Study Population
Male,Fathers,Female,Mothers
Mesh Terms
Other Terms
Demographic characteristics;Morocco;clinical characteristics;consanguinity;intellectual disability
Study Design
Exploratory Study,Descriptive Study
Study Approach
Country of Study
Morocco
Publication Country
United States