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Epidemiology of neurodevelopmental disorders in children
1Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Epidemiology Group, Aberdeen, UK. j.little@abdn.ac.uk
Insights
Investigating the descriptive epidemiology of neurodevelopmental disorders, like mental and behavioral disorders, helps understand disease causes and plan services. Research on neural tube defects (NTDs) shows diet
Area of Science:
- Epidemiology
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Public Health
Background:
- Descriptive epidemiology is crucial for assessing the frequency of neurodevelopmental disorders, aiding service planning.
- Variations in disease occurrence by geography, time, and personal characteristics offer insights into etiology.
- The epidemiology of mental and behavioral disorders is less explored compared to conditions like spina bifida.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the epidemiology of mental and behavioral disorders with other neurodevelopmental conditions.
- To highlight the importance of descriptive epidemiology in understanding disease patterns and etiology.
- To discuss study design considerations for investigating mental and behavioral disorders.
Main Methods:
- Review of descriptive epidemiological data for mental and behavioral disorders.
- Comparison with epidemiological studies of spina bifida, chromosomal anomalies, and brain tumors.
- Discussion of analytical epidemiologic approaches and study design issues.
Main Results:
- Descriptive epidemiology aids in assessing disorder frequency and informing service provision.
- Geographical, temporal, and personal variations in disorders can suggest etiological factors.
- Research on neural tube defects (NTDs) demonstrates how epidemiological findings can lead to interventions like folate supplementation.
Conclusions:
- Descriptive epidemiology is vital for both service planning and etiological research in neurodevelopmental disorders.
- The study of neural tube defects provides a model for how epidemiological insights can translate into effective public health interventions.
- Further investigation into the analytical epidemiology of mental and behavioral disorders is warranted.
Abstract:
The epidemiology of mental and behavioural disorders is considered in comparison with spina bifida, chromosomal anomalies and brain tumours. Descriptive epidemiology is important not only in assessing the frequency of neurodevelopmental disorders, thereby aiding planning of service provision, but also because variations by geographical area, over time, and by personal characteristics provide clues regarding etiology. The value of the latter application is exemplified by research on spina bifida and other neural tube defects (NTDs). The descriptive epidemiology of mental and behavioural disorders has been less investigated. The descriptive epidemiology of NTDs suggested that diet might be of etiological importance. Analytical epidemiologic investigation proceeded by testing dietary hypotheses in case-control and cohort studies. Subsequently, folate supplementation was shown to reduce recurrence risk in a randomized controlled trial. The analytical epidemiology of other neurodevelopmental disorders is less well understood. Study design issues are discussed in relation to mental and behavioural disorders.