School dysfunction in 5 to 19 year old children with only motor disabilities seen at a reference hospital in...

Although children with only motor disabilities have no intellectual disabilities and should attend a regular school, in the pediatric practice it has been observed that there is a high level of heterogeneity in their education. The objective of our study was to establish the prevalence of school dysfunction in children with only motor disabilities who are seen in a reference hospital, and explore if there are socio-demographic, medical and/or school outcome measures related to school dysfunction. The study was cross-sectional, observational, analytical, and comparative. Two hundred and eighty-eight 5 to 19 year old patients with only motor disabilities were included (September 2011-February 2012). Of them, 25% (72) had school dysfunction. A history of surgery (OR= 10.8 [4.23-27.57]), a poor maternal education (OR= 4.20 [1.18-14.9]), chronic pain (OR= 3.62 [1.77-7.40]), and the use of a wheelchair (OR= 3.01 [1.48-6.10]) were found to be statistically significant risk factors for school dysfunction. In our sample, being an only child (OR= 0.09 [0.01-0.54]) was a protective factor.