Abstract

Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic abnormality worldwide. This preliminary study aims to assess the attitude of society toward DS people and the understanding of their health and education status in the Pashtun population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. The study sample was DS people (no. 108) and their parents/guardians (no. 108) belonging to different province areas. Information was collected on a predesigned questionnaire by trained professionals. P? 0.05 was considered significant. The overall response of the study population was positive (mean=4.066, SD=0.99). However, no significant difference appeared in the categorical analysis for sex, age group, location, and education level of the respondents. The result indicated that cardiovascular disease was the most common disease in DS people (7.4%). Further, 82.4% of the DS people were not enrolled in any school. Although the overall attitude toward DS people is very positive in the Pashtun population, the province's national social system cannot support disabled people appropriately. Policies should be made for these people on the provincial and national levels to reduce their dependency on the family.

Keywords: Intellectual disability, Attitude, Congenital disorders, Health status, Education.