The prevalence of disability among Roma and non-Roma children in four West Balkan countries.

Background: Very little is known about the prevalence of disability among Roma children.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of disability and significant cognitive delay among Roma and non-Roma children aged from 2 to 17 years in four West Balkan countries.

Methods: Secondary analysis of data collected in Round 6 of UNICEF's Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys. Nationally representative samples of 6290 Roma and 13,005 non-Roma children in Kosovo, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, and Serbia.

Results: Roma children were twice as likely to have a disability, a less severe disability, multiple disabilities, and severe cognitive delay than their peers and were more likely to have functional limitations in all but one of the domains investigated.

Conclusions: Disability is significantly more prevalent among Roma children aged 2-17 years than among their non-Roma peers in four Western Balkan countries. Future research should focus on the extent to which differences in disability may be attributable to differential rates of exposure to a range of social determinants.