Table 1.
Prevalence of suspected developmental delays among Nepalese children (N = 2870).
| Characteristics | N (%) | Prevalence of suspected developmental delays (95% CI) | p-valuea |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2870 | 34.8 (32.3–37.4) | |
| Child characteristics | |||
| Age of children | |||
| 36–47 months | 1468 (51.1) | 42.2 (38.8–45.7) | < 0.001 |
| 48–59 months | 1402 (48.9) | 27.0 (23.9–30.4) | |
| Sex of children | |||
| Boys | 1487 (51.8) | 35.2 (32.0–38.6) | 0.703 |
| Girls | 1384 (48.2) | 34.4 (31.0–37.9) | |
| Birth order | |||
| 1 | 713 (25.5) | 24.7 (20.4–29.6) | < 0.001 |
| 2–4 | 1871 (66.8) | 38.2 (35.0–41.4) | |
| ≥ 5 | 215 (7.7) | 42.4 (34.0–51.3) | |
| Stunting | |||
| No | 1818 (64.3) | 30.2 (27.3–33.3) | < 0.001 |
| Yes | 1008 (35.7) | 42.3 (38.4–46.4) | |
| Early childhood education | |||
| Attending | 1782 (97.3) | 25.2 (22.7–27.8) | < 0.001 |
| Not attending | 50 (2.7) | 54.9 (37.8–70.9) | |
| Parent’s characteristics | |||
| Mother’s age | |||
| 15–24 years | 746 (26.5) | 32.9 (28.8–37.3) | 0.494 |
| 25–34 years | 1641 (58.4) | 35.2 (31.9–38.7) | |
| 35 years and above | 425 (15.1) | 37.4 (31.1–44.2) | |
| Mother’s education | |||
| No education | 816 (28.4) | 49.1 (44.4–53.8) | < 0.001 |
| Basic education | 959 (33.4) | 35.9 (31.9–40.2) | |
| Secondary education | 905 (31.5) | 25.0 (21.8–28.5) | |
| Higher education | 190 (6.6) | 14.5 (9.2–22.0) | |
| Functional difficulties of mother | |||
| Yes | 29 (1.0) | 24.6 (13.9–39.8) | 0.168 |
| No | 2781 (99.0) | 35.1 (32.5–37.7) | |
| Household-level characteristics | |||
| Household socio-economic status | |||
| Poorest | 652 (22.7) | 46.9 (41.7–52.1) | < 0.001 |
| Poorer | 583 (20.3) | 40.0 (34.0–46.3) | |
| Middle class | 590 (20.6) | 33.0 (28.7–37.7) | |
| Richer | 573 (20.0) | 31.8 (26.0–38.3) | |
| Richest | 472 (16.4) | 17.5 (12.9–23.4) | |
| Household size | |||
| 1–4 persons | 1487 (54.2) | 34.9 (31.8–38.2) | 0.520 |
| 5–6 persons | 817 (29.8) | 33.2 (29.1–37.6) | |
| > 6 persons | 441 (16.1) | 37.3 (31.4–43.6) | |
| Iodine level in the salt consumed | |||
| None (0 ppm) | 151 (5.5) | 32.4 (23.7–42.4) | 0.804 |
| Inadequate (< 15 ppm) | 506 (18.5) | 36.1 (30.0–42.7) | |
| Adequate (≥ 15 ppm) | 2073 (75.9) | 34.6 (31.7–37.6) | |
| Community-level characteristics | |||
| Place of residence | |||
| Urban area | 1875 (65.3) | 32.1 (28.8–35.5) | 0.002 |
| Rural area | 995 (34.7) | 40.0 (36.3–43.7) | |
| Province | |||
| Province 1 | 465 (16.2) | 23.1 (17.7–29.4) | < 0.001 |
| Madhesh Province | 707 (24.6) | 44.2 (38.2–50.3) | |
| Bagmati Province | 513 (17.9) | 26.1 (21.6–31.2) | |
| Gandaki Province | 195 (6.8) | 20.5 (15.6–26.5) | |
| Lumbini Province | 515 (18.0) | 40.0 (33.5–46.8) | |
| Karnali Province | 189 (6.6) | 45.0 (37.4–52.8) | |
| Sudhurpashchim Province | 285 (9.9) | 40.1 (34.3–46.1) | |
CI confidence interval, ppm parts per million.
ap-values were obtained through Chi-square test.
Significant values are in bold.