Fasil Menbere1, Zenawit Alemayehu1, Yohannes Godie2*
Background: Speech is a combination of sounds produced for expressing language, while language is a measure of comprehension that allows reasoning, conceptualization, and understanding. Speech and language delay are the most common impairments in early childhood with prevalence ranging from 2.3 -19 percent. This study aims to determine the prevalence and associated factors of isolated speech and language delay in patients seen at the pediatric neurology clinic of SPMMHC.
Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional prospective study was conducted in the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health of SPHMMC using a structured and standardized questionnaire. The calculated sample size was 269 subjects, and cases of patients with neurologic disorders who came to the hospital during the study period were included consecutively until the calculated sample size was attained. Data was analyzed using version 26.0.
Results: The prevalence of language and speech delays was found to be 66.5%. Having bilingual family members (COR=4.2,95% CI: 2.22-7.943), male sex(COR=4.13,95% CI:2.15-7.94), history of seizure (COR=4.13,95% CI.1.07-3.78), history of hearing impairment (COR=2.76,95% CI:1.44- 5.29), maternal history of preeclampsia(COR=2.03,95% CI:1.04 -3.98), history of postnatal asphyxia(COR=2.81,95% CI:1.35-5.86)andaverage screen time of more than one hour(COR=2.36,95% CI:1.24-4.47) were factors significantly associated with language and speech delay.
Conclusion: The prevalence of isolated speech and language delay was higher in this study. From this study, we concluded that further studies should be done and that health institutions should focus on guidelines that allow screening of every patient visiting the pediatric unit
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