Original scientific paper

THE FREQUENCY OF DYSCALCULIA AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

Gordana Jovanović ; School for Elementary and High Education “Vukašin Marković”, Kragujevac, Serbia
Zoran Jovanović ; Clinical Center Kragujevac, Serbia
Jelena Banković-Gajić ; The First Gymnasium of Kragujevac, Serbia
Anđelka Nikolić ; Elementary School "Stanislav Sremčević", Kragujevac, Serbia
Srđana Svetozarević ; Psychiatric Clinic, Clinical Center Kragujevac, University School of Medicine, Kragujevac, Serbia
Dragana Ignjatović-Ristić ; Psychiatric Clinic, Clinical Center Kragujevac, University School of Medicine, Kragujevac, Serbia

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%.
Subjects and 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.
Conclusion: 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.

Keywords

mathematics – dyscalculia - prevalence

Hrčak ID:

161176

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/161176

Publication date:

10.6.2013.

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