title: Prevalence and associated risk factors of dyslexic children in a middle-sized city of China: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There are many discussions about dyslexia based on studies conducted in western countries, and some risk factors to dyslexia, such as gender and home literacy environment, have been widely accepted based on these studies. However, to our knowledge, there are few studies focusing on the risk factors of dyslexia in China. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate the prevalence of dyslexia and its potential risk factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted in Qianjiang, a city in Hubei province, China. Two stages sampling strategy was applied to randomly selected 5 districts and 9 primary schools in Qianjiang. In total, 6,350 students participated in this study and there were 5,063 valid student questionnaires obtained for the final analyses. Additional questionnaires (such as Dyslexia Checklist for Chinese Children and Pupil Rating Scale) were used to identify dyslexic children. The chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression were employed to reveal the potential risk factors to dyslexia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our study revealed that the prevalence of dyslexia was 3.9% in Qianjiang city, which is a middle-sized city in China. Among dyslexic children, the gender ratio (boys to girls) was nearly 3∶1. According to the P-value in the multivariate logistic regression, the gender (P<0.01), mother's education level (P<0.01), and learning habits (P<0.01) (active learning, scheduled reading time) were associated with dyslexia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence rate of dyslexic children in middle-sized cities is 3.9%. The potential risk factors of dyslexic children revealed in this study will have a great impact on detecting and treating dyslexic children in China as early as possible, although more studies are still needed to further investigate the risk factors of dyslexic children in China.
authors: Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors: Zhao
authors: Z
authors: Sun
authors: Li
authors: L
authors: Zou
authors: Jiajia
authors: J
authors: Zhang
authors: Shengnan
authors: S
authors: Mo
authors: Shanshan
authors: S
authors: Shao
authors: Rong
authors: R
authors: Zhong
authors: Juntao
authors: J
authors: Ke
authors: Xuzai
authors: X
authors: Lu
authors: Xiaoping
authors: X
authors: Miao
authors: Ranran
authors: R
authors: Song
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D002947:Cities / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005190:Family; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016487:Parenting; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution