Learning Disabilities in Reading and Writing and Type of Delivery in Twin Births

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship between the type of delivery (vaginal or caesarean), as a risk factor, and the likelihood of having learning disabilities in reading (reading accuracy) and writing (phonetic and visual orthography), controlling for the interaction and/or confounding effect of gestational, obstetric, and neonatal variables (maternal age at delivery, gestational age, foetal presentation, Apgar 1, and newborn weight) among six-year-old children born in twin births. In this retrospective cohort study, the exposed and non-exposed cohorts consisted of children born by caesarean section and vaginal delivery, respectively. A total of 124 children born in twin births were evaluated in year one of primary education. Intelligence was measured using the K-BIT test; reading and writing variables were evaluated using the Evalúa-1 battery of tests, and clinical records were used to measure gestational, obstetric, and neonatal variables. Binary logistic regressions applied to each dependent variable indicated that caesarean delivery is a possible independent risk factor for difficulties in reading accuracy and phonetic and visual orthography. Future research using larger samples of younger children is required to analyse the relationship between obstetric and neonatal variables and the different basic indicators of reading and writing.