Arya News - Over 5 percent of the country`s population is at risk of having borderline intellectual functioning.
SEOUL – A state-commissioned study showed that 5.1 percent of minors and 6.8 percent of adults in South Korea are at significant risk of having borderline intellectual functioning, referring to below-average cognitive ability not severe enough to be considered intellectual disability.
Of the participants under age 18, 2.6 percent were categorized as being in the BIF at-risk group, while 2.5 percent were categorized as being in the BIF search group, according to the survey on 9,000 Koreans under age 60 conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs.
The search group refers to those who are not yet confirmed to have BIF, but require continued observation. Both the at-risk and search groups are thought to have substantial risk of BIF. The remaining participants are categorized as the general group.
Among adults, 5.3 percent were categorized as being in the BIF at-risk group, while 1.5 percent were categorized as being in the search group. The percentage of those in the at-risk group was particularly high among those aged 19-29 and 30-39, at 6.9 percent and 6.5 percent each.
The study showed that people in both groups experience severe difficulties at school and in daily life. Some 20 percent of school-age children and teens in the two groups temporarily or permanently left school or switched schools, which was much higher than the 3.3 percent of the minors in the general group.
They were 4.7 times more likely to experience difficulty using public systems like public transportation and medical institutes, and were 4 times more likely to have trouble in relationships with others.
In terms of mental health, 30.2 percent of the at-risk children and teens and 23.3 percent in the search group were taking medications for mental health issues, much higher than the 3.1 percent in the general group.
The tendency was also found among adults in both the at-risk for search groups, 29.7 percent of whom were taking medications for mental health, compared to 6.7 percent in the general group.
These problems prevent such individuals from holding jobs, suggested by the fact that only 30 percent of adults in the high-risk BIF group had jobs at the time of the survey. Some 61 percent of those who reported they were working had unguaranteed jobs.
Researchers said that the government should establish support systems for people with BIF based on which stage of their lives they are in. They advocated for a long-term plan that would provide legal grounds to provide benefits for individuals with BIF, along with establishing agencies specializing in supporting them.