Prevalence of delayed neurodevelopment in children from Bogotá, Colombia, South America

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Alberto Velez van Meerbeke1, Claudia Talero-Gutierrez, Rodrigo Gonzalez-Reyes

  • 1School of Medicine, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia. avelez@urosario.edu.co

Neuroepidemiology
|October 11, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Undiagnosed neurodevelopmental delay disorders (NDD) affect nearly 33 in 1000 preschoolers in Bogotá, Colombia. Early identification and intervention are crucial public health priorities to prevent long-term academic and social challenges.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Developmental Neuroscience
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Undiagnosed neurodevelopmental delay disorders (NDD) in children lead to significant academic and social challenges.
  • Early identification of NDD is critical to mitigate familial, social, and work-related problems.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the prevalence of neurodevelopmental delay disorders (NDD) among preschoolers in Bogotá, Colombia.
  • To highlight the public health implications of undiagnosed NDD in a nonindustrialized country.

Main Methods:

  • A cross-sectional study screened 2,043 preschoolers aged under 60 months in various socioeconomic areas of Bogotá.
  • Parents and teachers were interviewed, and suspected cases were evaluated using the abbreviated neurodevelopmental scale (EAD-1).

Main Results:

  • An estimated prevalence of 32.8 per 1,000 children under 5 years was found for NDD.
  • Specific deficits included auditory language delay (18.6 per 1,000), fine motor skills (10.3 per 1,000), and personal-social interactions (9.8 per 1,000).
  • 67 children (23.3% of screened) showed one or more abnormal developmental items.

Conclusions:

  • Neurodevelopmental delay disorders (NDD) are present in apparently healthy children in Colombian nurseries and kindergartens.
  • The study identified a substantial public health problem due to the lack of developmental milestone evaluation in Colombia.
  • Effective intervention strategies are necessary to address the prevalence of NDD and its consequences.
Abstract

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