Prevalence and nature of communication delays in a South African primary healthcare context

South African Journal of Child Health

de Wet Swanepoel¹  Frances Glascoe²  E M Louw³  Bart Vinck⁵  Jeannie van der Linde⁴  Jaqui Sommerville³ 

[1] Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria, South Africa; and Ear Sciences Centre, School of Surgery, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Australia; and Ear Science Institute Australia, Subiaco;School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee;Department of Statistics, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria;Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria;Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria, South Africa; and Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Ghent University

关键词: Poisons;    children;    kerosene;    Africa;    Ghana;   

DOI  :  

学科分类：农业科学（综合）

来源: Health and Medical Publishing Group

【 摘 要 】

Background.Communication delays are the most common impairment in early childhood and have a negative effect on long-term academic, psychological and social development. Baseline prevalence of communication delays or disorders enables adequate planning of service delivery and successful implementation of intervention strategies, to reduce disorder prevalence.  Objective.To determine the prevalence and describe the nature of communication delays in infants aged 6 - 12 months in underserved communities in South Africa (SA). Method.A parent interview and the Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale (RITLS) were used to collect data from the caregivers of 201 infants aged 6 - 12 months by means of convenience sampling at primary healthcare facilities in the Tshwane district, SA.  Results.Thirteen percent ( n =26) of infants were diagnosed with communication delay. Associations affecting language delays were established for three risk factors (i.e. housing status, age of mother and number of siblings). The effect of combined risk factors on language development revealed that an infant was at greatest risk (27% probability) of developing a language delay when: ( i ) mothers were between the ages of 19 and 34 years; ( ii ) parents owned their own home; and ( iii ) there were three or more children in the household.  Conclusion.The prevalence of communication delays in the sample population was high, possibly because the majority of infants were exposed to risk factors. The implementation of preventive measures such as awareness campaigns and developmental screening and surveillance should be considered in the SA primary healthcare context.

【 授权许可】

Unknown