Speech and language delay in children: Prevalence and risk factors

Intelligible speech and language is a useful marker for the child's overall development and intellect. Timely identification of delay by primary care physicians can allow early intervention and reduce disability. Data from India on this subject is limited.

To study the prevalence and risk factors of speech-language delay among children aged 1-12 years.

A cross sectional study was conducted at the Pediatric outpatient department of a teaching hospital.

Eighty four children (42 children with delayed speech and 42 controls) aged 1-12 years were included. The guardians of these children were requested to answer a questionnaire. History of the child's morbidity pattern and the risk factors for speech delay were recorded. The child's developmental milestones were assessed.

Data entry was analyzed using SPSS software, version 16. Standard statistical tests were used. A p value of less than 0.05 was taken as statistically significant.

Speech and Language delay was found in 42 out of 1658 children who attended the OPD. The risk factors found to be significant were seizure disorder (P=< 0.001)), birth asphyxia (P=0.019), oro-pharyngeal deformity (P=0.012), multilingual family environment (P=< 0.001), family history (P=0.013), low paternal education (P=0.008), low maternal education (P=< 0.001), consanguinity (P=< 0.001) and inadequate stimulation (P=< 0.001).

The prevalence of speech and language delay was 2.53%. and the medical risk factors were birth asphyxia, seizure disorder and oro-pharyngeal deformity. The familial causes were low parental education, consanguinity, positive family history, multilingual environment and inadequate stimulation.