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Clinical aspects of mental retardation. The chief complaint
1Pediatrics Department, Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, Virginia.
Insights
Pediatricians often first learn about developmental delays through parental concerns like speech delay, developmental delay, or school failure. Recognizing these early signs is crucial for timely diagnosis and treatment of intellectual disability.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Developmental Psychology
- Child Neurology
Background:
- Intellectual disability (ID) diagnosis relies on early identification of developmental concerns.
- Understanding how children with ID are initially identified by healthcare providers is essential for improving care pathways.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the primary parental concerns that lead to pediatrician attention for children later diagnosed with intellectual disability.
- To identify the most common presenting issues for early-stage intellectual disability.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective chart review of 101 children diagnosed with intellectual disability.
- Analysis of referral reasons and parental concerns documented in pediatric records.
Main Results:
- The most frequent parental concerns were Speech Delay, Developmental Delay, and School Failure.
- Speech Delay was the leading concern for over 50% of referrals in children aged 2–6 years.
Conclusions:
- Parental recognition of speech and developmental delays, alongside school difficulties, are key indicators prompting pediatrician visits for potential intellectual disability.
- Improving the initial evaluation and treatment of intellectual disability necessitates understanding these common presenting parental concerns.
Abstract:
The charts of 101 mentally retarded children were studied to determine how their retardation first came to the attention of their pediatrician. It was found that Speech Delay, Developmental Delay, and School Failure were the three most common parental concerns. Speech Delay accounted for over 50 percent of all referrals of children age 2 to 6 years. A first step to improve accurate evaluation and treatment of mental retardation is to recognize how children ultimately diagnosed as retarded are initially brought to the attention of the pediatrician.