Biological Risk Factors and Early Developmental Delay Assessment in Infants Using Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Version 3 (ASQ-3)

Abstract

Background: Development during early years of life is very crucial in the context of overall development of an individual. This is especially true for infants who have biological risk factors for maldevelopment. This study aimed to find the association of biological risk factors and developmental delay in infants aged 3-18 months. Materials and Methods: For this study, enrolment of 460 infants was done in the age group of 3-18 months who were attending Immunization Clinic in district level Civil Hospital, Faridkot, Punjab. Developmental assessment in the five areas including Gross motor, Fine motor, Communication, Problem solving and Personal-social development was done using a standardized tool called Ages and Stages Questionnaire, version 3 (ASQ-3). Results: Most of the study subjects viz., 426 (92.6%) were born full term whereas 34 (7.3%) infants were born preterm. Mean birth weight of infants was 2.9 ± 0.387 kgs. Out of the total, 259 (56.3%) study subjects were males and 201(43.7%) were females. Biological risk factors like gestation age and birth weight had statistically significant association with all domains of developmental delay except in the area of personal social development. On the other hand, gender had no association with any domain of developmental delay. Conclusion: Gestation age and birth weight are the typical risk factors having significant impact on all domains of developmental delay except for the personal social delay. However, gender of infant had no association with developmental delay. Keywords: Infant, Gestation age, birth weight, Developmental delay, ASQ.