Screening for developmental delay among children attending a rural community welfare clinic in Ghana.

Publication/Presentation Date

8-13-2013

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Periodic screening for developmental delays (DD) could avert the incidence of disability among children. However, such routine programme is yet to take off in rural welfare clinics in Ghana.

METHOD: Mothers of under-5 children who were attending rural child welfare clinic participated in this study. The socio-demographic data of the mothers and their children were recorded. The children were screened to assess their gross motor skills, fine motor skills, communication skills, problem solving/cognition and social/personal interaction using Ages and Stages Questionnaire. Score below the threshold points on a developmental domain defines DD for a child. Data analysis involved percentages and frequency while Chi-square was performed to determine the associations between the selected socio-demographic risk factors and DD. Alpha value was set at p < 0.05.

RESULTS: Three hundren and thirty (330) children were screened and majority 60(18%), were found within the age range 3 months 1 day to 5 months 0 day. 251(76%) had normal weight (2.5 kg-3.5) while 26(7.6%) were underweight (

CONCLUSION: An appreciable proportion of the children were found to experience developmental delays and the most prevalent occurence was in personal/social interaction. Birth weight, gestational age and maternal educational level provide insight into a link with communication and gross motor skills.

Volume

13

First Page

119

Last Page

119

ISSN

1471-2431

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

PubMedID

23937954

Department(s)

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Residents, Fellows and Residents

Document Type

Article

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS