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Global Developmental Delay and Its Determinants Among Urban Infants and Toddlers: A Cross Sectional Study

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Abstract

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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. JN Medical college, AMU, Aligarh, India

    Sandeep Sachdeva, Ali Amir, Seema Alam, Zulfia Khan, Najam Khalique & M. A. Ansari

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  1. Sandeep Sachdeva
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  2. Ali Amir
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  3. Seema Alam
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  4. Zulfia Khan
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  5. Najam Khalique
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  6. M. A. Ansari
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Correspondence to Sandeep Sachdeva.

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Sachdeva, S., Amir, A., Alam, S. et al. Global Developmental Delay and Its Determinants Among Urban Infants and Toddlers: A Cross Sectional Study. Indian J Pediatr 77, 975–980 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-010-0151-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-010-0151-9

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