Document Type : Original Article
Authors
- . Neha Sharma
- . Jamal Masood 1
- . S. N. Singh 2
- . Naim Ahmad 3
- . Prabhaker Mishra 4
- . Shikhar Singh 5
- . Sudip Bhattacharya
1 Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, King George’s Medical University
2 Department of Paediatrics, King George’s Medical University
3 Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, King Geo
4 Department of Biostatistics and Health Informatics, SGPGI
5 Department of Community Medicine, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Initial formative years in every children’s life are critical for their optimal development,
as these frame the foundation of future well‑being. With a varied prevalence of developmental
delays (DDs) in the world and most of the studies representing the hospital‑based data. The present
study was aimed to find the prevalence and risk factors for DDs (domain wise) in children aged
2 months to 6 years in the rural area of North India.
METHODS: This was a cross‑sectional study in which a multistage random sampling technique was
used. From 30 Anganwadi centers, 450 children aged 2 months–6 years were taken in the study.
Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram screening tool developed by the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare, India, was used for developmental screening. Binary logistic regression analysis was done
to identify the predictors for DDs (domain wise).
RESULTS: Seventy‑three (16.2%) children were found to have DDs and 60 (13.3%) children had
the global DDs. About 84/421 (20.0%) children had cognitive delay, followed by 43/450 (9.6%)
children who had delay in speech and language area. About 17/190 (8.9%) children had social
delay while 26/407 (6.4%) children had hearing and vision impairment. Gross motor delay was
seen in 24/450 (5.3%) children and 16/300 (5.3%) children had fine motor delay. Gestational
age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] – 13.30), complications during delivery (AOR – 25.79), meconium
aspiration (AOR – 12.81), and child never breastfed (AOR – 8.34) were strong predictors for the
delay in different domains of developmental milestones.
CONCLUSION: Socio-economic, ante-natal, natal and post-natal factors should be considered for
prompt identification and initiation of intervention for DDs.
RECOMMENDATION: There is a need for increasing awareness and knowledge of parents regarding
the achievement of developmental milestones according to the age. A multipronged approach to the
holistic treatment of developmentally delayed children for early intervention is required.
Keywords
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