• S Karande, N J Gogtay, T More, S Pandit, and Praveenkumar.
• Department of Pediatrics, Seth G.S. Medical College and K.E.M. Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
• J Postgrad Med. 2022 Oct 1; 68 (4): 213220213-220.

Background And ObjectivesStudents with borderline intellectual functioning ("slow learners") underperform in all school subjects. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the parental-perceived health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of these students. Its secondary objective was to analyze the impact of sociodemographic variables on their HRQoL.Settings And DesignCross-sectional single-arm questionnaire-based study was conducted in the learning disability clinic in a public medical college in Mumbai.Subjects And MethodsOne hundred parents of slow learners aged 8 to 16 years were recruited by non-probability sampling. Their HRQoL scores were measured using the English DISABKIDS chronic generic module parent (proxy) long-version ("DCGM-37-P") instrument.Statistical AnalysisMultiple regression analysis was carried out for determining the "independent" impact that sociodemographic variables had on a poor facet and total score outcomes.ResultsClinically significant deficits were detected in 4 facets, namely: small deficit in "social inclusion"; medium deficits in "independence", "emotion", and "social exclusion"; and large deficit in "total score". Multivariate analysis revealed that: (i) being an only child predicted a poor "emotion" and "social exclusion" facet score outcomes (P = 0.039 and P = 0.024, respectively); (ii) being a female predicted a poor "social inclusion" facet score outcome (P = 0.022); and, (iii) studying in a single-gender school predicted a poor "limitation" facet score outcome (P = 0.020).ConclusionsParents of slow learners perceive their psychosocial and total HRQoL to be significantly compromised. There is a need to evaluate the HRQoL of slow learners so that optimum rehabilitation can be facilitated.

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