Learning disabilities and allergies among children and adolescents: are they linked?

Introduction
The main purpose of this work is to study the incidence of learning disabilities among children and adolescents during the period 2009–2018 in the United States and to find not only statistically significant predictors but also a possible association between learning disabilities and allergies.

Material and methods
The statistical methods used to derive the results of this work were the χ2 test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), in order to check the statistical significance of learning disabilities in relation to socio-economic factors of children and adolescents. In addition, a multivariate logistic regression analysis was used with the odds ratio (OR) to find statistically significant prognostic factors for learning disabilities. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to find the relationship between learning disabilities and allergies.

Results
According to multiple logistic regression analysis, children and adolescents whose families are in a poor financial situation, family income less than $35,000, and health insurance coverage “Medicaid” have two times higher risk of the occurrence of learning disabilities. In addition, children who have neither mother nor father also have higher risk for the occurrence of learning disabilities. Finally, a statistically significant relationship was found between the number of cases of learning disabilities and food allergies.

Conclusions
The results of this study describe for the first time the importance of deprivation (of family and financial comfort) as a primary prognostic risk factor for learning disabilities in children. It has also been found that not only deprivation but also death of the parents play a key role in the increased risk of developing these disorders. Moreover, a link has been found between learning disabilities and food allergies.