Developmental delays among infants attending Paediatric out-patient department of a Medical College Hospital in West Bengal

Abstract

Background: Early detection through screening and timely intervention can reduce the impact of developmental delay on lives of children and their parents. Routine screening in Paediatric out-patient department with a screener can be a feasible alternative. Objectives: To find out the developmental delay among infants attending the Paediatric out-patient department and the socio-demographic factors associated with it. Methods: In a descriptive, cross-sectional study, 180 infants were assessed using the age specific assessment sheet for monitoring of development designed by Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and World Health Organization (WHO) in IMCI context. A pre-designed, pre-tested schedule was used which collected information regarding socio-demographic and environmental characteristics of infants. Results: The study found the prevalence of suspected developmental delay to be 6.7% and that of developmental alert/ normal development with risk factors was 25.0%. Female infants [AOR=2.18 (1.01-4.72)] were two times more likely to have developmental alert/ normal development with risk factors while duration of maternal education [AOR = 0.82 (0.73-0.93)] reduced the risk significantly. Increase in duration of maternal education [AOR = 0.73 (0.61-0.88)] and per capita monthly income [AOR = 0.998 (0.996-0.999)] by one unit significantly reduced the risk of suspected developmental delay. Conclusion: High prevalence of developmental delay/ alert highlighted the need for routine screening and early measure with focus to infants from disadvantaged sections.

Keywords

• Developmental delay
• Alert
• Infants
• Correlates
• Assessment