PARENTAL PERCEPTION OF LOW IQ FACTS OR FICTION: RETROSPECTIVE DATA FROM CLINIC IN SEMI RURAL MAHARASHTRA

Objective: To study the association between physical and psychological problems perceived by parents and the IQ of their children. Methods: We studied 981 children in the child development center at Ahmednagar. Median age at followup was 7.8y (Q25=5.6y and Q75=10.4y, Babies underwent IQ evaluation by Binet Kamat scale (n=981); also their physical and psychological problems perceived by parents were documented. We categorized children into 4 categories using a number of problems (physical and psychological separately) viz 1 (no problem), 2 (1 problem), 3 (2 problems), 4 (>2 problems). When we looked at physical problem data, 555 (56.6%) had no problem, 251 (25.6%) had 1, 117 (11.9%) had 2, and the remaining 58 (5.9%) had more than 2. For psychological problems like not interested in studies, speech problems don't remember, don't understand, cannot concentrate, fears, etc. The distribution was 221 (22.5%), 212 (21.6%), 222 (22.6%) and 326 (33.3%) respectively. Result: The increasing trend of mean IQ for physical problem parameters from nil to >2 categories and decreasing prevalence of low IQ using the Binet Kamat scale were not significant. However, for psychological problems, the decreasing and statistically significant trend (p=0.000) was present for mean IQ, and a significant increasing trend (p=0.029) for the prevalence of low IQ was observed. Conclusion: Psychological problems were associated with IQ. Numbers of problems were inversely correlated with IQ. Keywords: Parental Perception; Low IQ; Behavioral Problems; Physical Problems.