ABSTRACT
@#BACKGROUND: Children’s development and childhood disability are a public health issues to their consequences on quality of life and productivity not only for affected children but also for families and populations as a whole. WHO and the World Bank estimate that more than a billion people live with some form of disability, which equates to approximately 15% of the world’s population (1). Citing the Global Burden of Disease study of 2004, the World Report further estimates that amongst those aged 0-14 years, roughly 5.1% of all children (93 million) live with a ‘moderate or severe’ disability and 0.7%, or 13 million children, live with severe difficulties. Many children younger than 5 years in developing countries are exposed to multiple risks, including poverty, malnutrition, poor health, and other risks, which are affect their cognitive, motor, and social emotional development. There are few research result and national statistics on the childhood disabilities of under 5 years children in Mongolia. OBJECTIVES:The objective of the screening was to determine the rate of disabilities in children aged 9 months to 5 years in Ulaanbaatar. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Population based cross-sectional study design used childhood disabilities screening among under 5 years children in Ulaanbaatar. TQ-(ten questions) screening method used to determine childhood disabilities. The structured interview checklist (TQ) and a guide to collect background and risk factors information were administered in a face-to-face interview of the child’s caregivers. The screening covered 8838 children from 6 districts, Ulaanbaatar. RESULTS: The study covered totally 8838 children (50.4 %) were male and 193 (48.4 %) were female. Over 81 % of the persons responding to the questions were mothers of the children, 10 % fathers. 9 % were the child’s relative and child’s sibling. Based on the ‘ten questions’ screen, 1960 out of 8838 children were positive (disabled). CONCLUSIONS: The positive rate of disabilities by TQ was a higher. At the post verification stage there is need to estimate sensitivity, specificity and negative predictive value of TQ. The second step of evaluation among positive cases should take diagnosis by comprehensive evaluation and clinical assessment.