Prevalence of developmental delay in apparently normal preschool children in Isfahan, Iran

Objective

Developmental delay screening is essential in pediatric medicine. The purpose of this study was to estimate the developmental delay in apparently normal children at entry to kindergarten.

Materials & Methods

In this cross- sectional study conducted in 2013, the developmental status of a sample of children who entered to kindergarten at the age of 4-60 months were evaluated by the Persian version of ages and stages questionnaires (ASQ) in Isfahan county, central Iran.

Results

Totally 680 children were enrolled, 11.8% of them were suspected to delayed in at least one domain and 1.3% and 1.2% in two and three domains, respectively. Developmental delay was in the following items: 5% in problem solving; 4.9% in fine motor; 3.2% in gross motor, 2.2% and 1.2% in personal – social and communication domains, respectively.

Conclusion

Considerable proportions of apparently normal children who are entering kindergarten had developmental delay, which could be detected by evaluation with appropriate screening tools.