Developmental Evaluation Clinic--CDC experience

We describe our five year experience of conducting developmental evaluation clinic at CDC. We have also assessed the prevalence of developmental delay (defined as delay in any two areas in Denver Development Screening Test II [DDST II]), documented the possible prenatal, natal, postnatal risk factors for developmental delay and, also identified the pattern of developmental disorders. A total of 2111 children were screened. DDST II results were abnormal for 953 (45.1 %) children. On multivariate analysis, delayed cry at birth, increasing age of the child, presence of feeding problems, assisted delivery, and birth injury were found to be associated with increasingly abnormal DDST II results. Nearly 50 % of referred babies had developmental delay without a specific clinical diagnosis, 13.9 % had speech problems, 9.5 % had neurological problems and 5.2 % had chromosomal anomalies. Birth related events are important risk factors for developmental delay.