Prevalence and Determinants of Developmental Delay in Children of 12-36 Months in the Area of Primary Health Centre, Bela, Nagpur.

Background: Developmental delay happens when a child fails to attain age-appropriate milestones. Identification of developmental delay in children is important to initiate early intervention in them which will facilitate the children to have a productive life in their later years.

Objectives: The objective was to study the prevalence of developmental delay among 12-36-month-old children from the area of Primary Health Centre, Bela, in rural Nagpur, Maharashtra.

Materials and methods: This was a community-based cross-sectional study design. A total of 314 children were selected through simple random sampling and assessed for delay using the Pediatric Development Screening Tool (PDST).

Results: 14.9% had developmental delay in at least any one domain and 3.5% had global developmental delay. Domain-specific developmental delay was highest for language delay (10%) followed by fine motor (5%). Gross motor and personal social delays had the same prevalence (3.1%). On multivariable lower literacy, level of mother and Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure were significant variables for any developmental delay. Hospitalization of the child during the 1st month of life and lower parenting scores were the significant factors associated with global delay.

Conclusion: Development delay is present in a sizeable proportion of children <3 years of age which affects their future growth and achievement. We recommend annual community-based screening for delays to detect and manage such children.