title: The frequency of dyscalculia among primary school children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Formal education, daily living activities and jobs require knowledge and application skills of counting and simple mathematical operations. Problems with mathematics start in primary school and persist till adulthood. This is known as dyscalculia and its prevalence in the school population ranges from 3 to 6.5%.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 1424 third-grade students (aged 9-10) of all primary schools in the City of Kragujevac, Serbia. Tests in mathematics were given in order to determine their mathematical achievement. 1078 students (538 boys and 540 girls) completed all five tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The frequency of dyscalculia in the sample was 9.9%. The difference between boys and girls according to the total score on the test was statistically significant (p<0.005). The difference between students according to their school achievement (excellent, very good, good, sufficient and insufficient) was statistically significant for all tests (p<0.0005). The influence of place of residence/school was significant for all tests (p<0.0005). Independent prognostic variables associated with dyscalculia are marks in mathematics and Serbian language.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Frequency of dyscalculia of 9.9% in the sample is higher than in the other similar studies. Further research should identify possible causes of such frequency of dyscalculia in order to improve students` mathematical abilities.
authors.affiliation: School for Elementary and High Education, Vukašin Marković, Kragujevac, Serbia.
authors.forename: Gordana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jovanović
authors.forename: Zoran
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jovanović
authors.forename: Jelena
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Banković-Gajić
authors.forename: Anđelka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nikolić
authors.forename: Srđana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Svetozarević
authors.forename: Dragana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ignjatović-Ristić
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D002648:Child; D060705:Dyscalculia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics / Q000193:education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055771:Serbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012737:Sex Factors