Performance of neurodevelopment questionnaire among school children across optimal and high birth weight in a rural cohort of northern India

Abstract

Background: Neurodevelopmental outcomes up to 6 years of age were observed to be negatively associated with birth weight. Limited evidence exists for its association with high birth weight in rural parts of India. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the performance of Denver Development Screening Test II (DDST-II) questionnaire among children with high birth weight (>3500 g) and normal birth weight (2500–2999 g) in an established birth cohort in the rural area of Himachal Pradesh, India. Materials and Methods: A birth cohort study was carried out from April 2021 to March 2022 in an established birth cohort of children. Participants with birth weight from 2500 to 2999 g were considered as the not-exposed and more than 3500 as the exposed group. Neurodevelopmental assessment was done by DDST-II, and its overall score along with seven domain scores was compared. The association was measured by adjusted odds ratio (aOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: A total of 379 and 377 participants in the nonexposed and exposed groups were enrolled, respectively. Exposed group observed with significantly more mean age (9.0 years) as compared to the not-exposed (8.6 years) group. Multivariate analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of covariance for observation-based neurodevelopmental assessment found that except for mentioning the correct use of items (cup, chair, and pencil) and for their action in case of cold, tired, and hungry, all domains have discriminatory value for a statistical difference between the not-exposed and exposed group. Linear regression analysis observed a significant association between DDST-II score and exposure (aOR: 2.3; 95% CI: 0.8–3.4) after adjusting for gender, age, years of schooling, and body mass index. Conclusion: High birth weight (>3500 g) was observed with a better performance of DDST-II with a significant association.