Global developmental delay and its determinants among urban infants and toddlers: a cross sectional study.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the prevalence of global developmental delay among children under 3 years of age and study the determinant factors.


METHODS
Cross sectional descriptive study was conducted in field practice areas of the Department of Community Medicine, JN Medical College, Aligarh, India. A total of 468 (243 boys and 225 girls) children aged 0-3 years were included. Developmental screening was performed for each child. A multitude of biological and environmental factors were analysed.


RESULTS
As many as 7.1% of the children screened positive for global developmental delay. Maximum delay was observed in the 0-12 months age group (7.0%). Undernutrition and prematurity were the two most prevalent etiological diagnoses (21% each). Stunting and maternal illiteracy were the microenvironmental predictors on stepwise binary logistic regression while prematurity and a history of seizures emerged significant biological predictors.


CONCLUSIONS
Developmental delay can be predicted by specific biological and environmental factors which would help in initiating appropriate interventions.
Sachdeva
Sandeep
S
JN Medical College, AMU, Aligarh, India. sandeepsemail@rediffmail.com
Amir
Ali
A
Alam
Seema
S
Khan
Zulfia
Z
Khalique
Najam
N
Ansari
M A
MA
D017677:Age Distribution; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003906:Developing Countries; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population