Correlation between risk factors that influence the development of children's language.

Abstract

Purpose: To identify the most significant risk factors for child development through the application of two risk protocols, namely, the Protocol for the Identification of Risk Factors for Language and Speech Disorders (PIFRAL) and the Language Development Protocol (PDL).

Methods: A retrospective study was carried out with 194 children aged 0 to 5 years and 11 months who were participants of primary health care (PHC) in the municipality of São Paulo, Brazil, from 2016 to 2020. The database was thoroughly analyzed using R software, and the most relevant risk factors were correlated through statistical analysis, generating altered and unaltered PDL results. Altered PDL results in the presence of one or more altered axes.

Results: Of the 194 participants, 62.4% had altered PDLs, and the risk factors that were most common in this group were male gender; being white; having a family socioeconomic level of upper middle, lower middle or low class; having a level of education up to high school; having a child with an altered temperament and having a mother with an altered temperament.

Conclusion: This research has achieved its goals, first, by correlating the PIFRAL and PDL protocols and second, by showing some of the risk factors for child development and their implications for language acquisition.