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Newborns and intellectual disability

Dagmar Dzurova, Charles University, Prague
Vladimir Gregor, MUDR, Prague
Antonin Sipek, MUDR, Prague

The most frequently identified cause of intellectual disability which limits a major life activity is Down’s syndrome (DS). Parental age and the risk of pregnancy with signs of DS have increased. The condition of newborns is based particularly on the development of prenatal testing and the societal climate and individual preferences. Among all newborns in the Czech Republic from 1994 to 1998, the prevalence and survival of children with DS was studied; 475,834 infants were included in the analysis using logistic regression. 5.3 babies born with DS per 10,000 live births; infant, perinatal and late neonatal mortality rate for DS was 15.3%, 1.6%, 2.4%. Low frequency of children with DS among newborns in the Czech Republic is related to adequate prenatal care for all pregnant women and higher tolerance of induced abortion than acceptance of birth outcomes with DS. Supported by MSM 0021620831 and Fogarty Program, UC Berkeley, D43 TW05810-01.

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Presented in Session 148: The demography of disability: setting new directions