Developmental delay of infants and young children with and without fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the extent and nature of developmental delay at different stages in childhood in a community in South Africa, with a known high rate of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).


METHODS
cohort of infants, clinically examined for FASD at two time periods, 7-12 months (N= 392; 45 FASD) and 17-21 months of age (N = 83, 35 FASD) were assessed using the Griffiths Mental Developmental Scales (GMDS).


RESULTS
Infants and children with FASD perform worse than their Non-FASD counterparts over all scales and total developmental quotients. Mean quotients for both groups decline between assessments across subscales with a particularly marked decline in the hearing and language scale at Time 2 (scores dropping from 110.6 to 83.1 in the Non-FASD group and 106.3 to 72.7 in the FASD group; P = 0.004). By early childhood the developmental gap between the groups widens with low maternal education, maternal depression, high parity and previous loss of sibling/s influencing development during early childhood.


CONCLUSIONS
The FASD group show more evidence of developmental delay over both time points compared to their Non-FASD counterparts. Demographic and socio-economic factors further impact early childhood. These findings are important in setting up primary level psycho-educational and national prevention programmes especially in periurban communities with a focus on early childhood development and FASD.
Institute for Child, Youth and Family Studies, Hugenote College, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. leighanne.davies@gmail.com
L
L
Davies
M
M
Dunn
M
M
Chersich
M
M
Urban
C
C
Chetty
L
L
Olivier
D
D
Viljoen
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D063647:Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008423:Maternal Age; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000453:epidemiology; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult