Time trends and determinants of multiple development delays in Bavarian preschool children: a retrospective analysis
Heribert Ludwig Stich1,2, Riccardo Caniato3, Alexander Krämer4
1Health Department, Erding, Germany. stich.heribert@lra-ed.de.
Insights
Multiple developmental delays in preschool children are increasing, particularly in psychosocial, motor, and cognitive areas. This highlights a growing public health concern requiring targeted interventions for at-risk children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric developmental psychology
- Public health research
- Child development studies
Background:
- Developmental delays in preschoolers represent a significant public health challenge.
- Understanding trends and influencing factors is crucial for early intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify time trends of multiple developmental delays in preschool children.
- To determine factors influencing preschool child development.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of 13,876 preschooler records (1997-2010).
- Analysis of prevalence and time trends of combined developmental delays.
- Regression models used to estimate the effect of age, sex, and nationality.
Main Results:
- Significant increases observed in psychosocial (3.8% to 13.8%), motor (2.6% to 14.4%), and cognitive delays (1.3% to 6.2%).
- Youngest children faced the highest risk for motor delays.
- Girls and German nationality showed protective effects against certain delays.
Conclusions:
- Multiple developmental disabilities are increasing among preschool children.
- These children constitute a risk group requiring specific public health measures.
- Early identification and intervention strategies are essential.
Objectives:
The aim of this study was to identify the time trends of multiple developmental delays and to determine the strength of selected factors influencing preschool child's development.
Methods:
We reviewed the records of 13,876 preschoolers in a district of Lower Bavaria to determine prevalence and time trends of combined developmental delays from 1997 to 2010. The effect of age, sex and nationality on development was estimated by using regression models.
Results:
The largest increase was in the area of psychosocial development (1997:3.8 % versus 2010:13.8 %), followed by twofold combined delays in motor (2.6 versus 14.4 % in 2009) and twofold delays (1.3 versus 6.2 %) in cognition. Youngest children (4.26-5.49 years) had the highest risk for twofold delays in motor (4.78; 95 % CI 3.30-6.92), whereas strongest protection was observed for girls (0.28; 95 % CI 0.22-0.36) for threefold delays in motor and for a German nationality (0.30; 95 % CI 0.20-0.43) for fourfold delays in cognition.
Conclusions:
According to this study, multiple disabilities in development were increasing in preschool children. These children can be considered as a risk group who therefore require measures in Public Health.
