The pattern of mental retardation in Iraqi children

Mental retardation is a group of heterogeneous disorders associated with generalized developmental delay during infancy and early childhood, while impairment in cognitive functions and adaptive behaviors became generally apparent during pre-school and early school years depending on the severity of the condition. Although the World Health Organization is still using the term mental retardation in its ICD-10 publication, the American Psychiatric Association has recently called the condition ¿Intellectual disability¿. There are two main types of mental retardation: The syndromic mental retardation is associated with other abnormalities caused by chromosomal and non-chromosomal genetic defects, endocrine disorders, and inborn errors of metabolism. Non-syndromic or idiopathic mental retardation is not associated with other abnormalities or underlying metabolic or endocrine disorder. Mental retardation may also occur in various forms of cerebral palsy, bilirubin encephalopathy, and atypical autism. Little is known about the pattern of mental retardation in Iraq. The aim of this book is to describe the pattern of mental retardation in a sample of Iraqi children.