Résumé
Purpose: To obtain epidemiological data on children with ocular morbidity attending a nodal district early intervention center (DEIC). Methods: After parental consent, we recruited children with ocular morbidity. After detailed history and clinical evaluation, along with pediatric consultation and relevant neuro?radiological and ancillary investigation, information was entered in a pretested proforma: especially looking for perinatal morbidity, including developmental delay (DD). Visual acuity (VA) was assessed by age?appropriate means by an ophthalmic assistant trained to work with children with special needs. We diligently looked for strabismus and performed dilated ophthalmoscopy. Using JASP, we summarized data as means and proportions and reported 95% CIs. We explored the association of disability percentage with possible predictor variables using regression. Results: We enrolled 320 children, with a mean age of 34.43 ± 31.35 months; two?thirds were male; one?third belonged to lower socioeconomic status (36%), with most parents being illiterate. The mean presenting VA was 1.8 logMAR for both eyes, range: 0 to 3. Sixty?one percent were hyperopic and 27% were myopic. High refractive error, (>±6D) occurred in nine; anisometropia in one; strabismus in 149, mostly esotropia; congenital cataract in 25, whereas 63 had abnormal fundus. Seventy?six received a diagnosis of cerebral visual impairment (CVI). On multivariate linear regression (MLR), younger age, presence of DD, and CVI significantly predicted a higher disability percentage. Logistic regression revealed that statutory disability is likely associated with DD (odds ratio [OR]:13.43); whereas older age was protective (OR: 0.977). Conclusion: Our study suggests that in DEIC children with ocular morbidity, younger children, and the presence of DD significantly predict both greater disability and the likelihood of statutory levels
Résumé
A sound is produced as a result of various movements and positions of the mobile and immobile elements of the articulation system. Tongue being one of the important mobile elements if restricted may lead to difficulty in articulation of one or more sounds. However, the relationship between speech and ankyloglossia is less investigated. So, we conducted a study to evaluate the prevalence of ankyloglossia among children with speech pathology reporting to District Early Intervention Centre (DEIC).METHODSAn observational study was conducted in the Department of Dental Surgery in association with DEIC of a tertiary care hospital for a period of one year. Children reporting for evaluation of speech pathology between 3 and 11 years of age were examined. Children with a history of traumatic injury or any surgical / chemo radiation treatment to oral cavity were excluded from the study.RESULTSAmong the total of 8911 patients who visited DEIC, 380 patients were referred for evaluation of speech difficulty. Among them a total of 304 patients were diagnosed with ankyloglossia. The overall prevalence of ankyloglossia was 3.4 percent and that among patients with speech problem was 80 percent. The prevalence was distributed as 63.5 percent in males and 36.5 percent in females. Type 2 ankyloglossia was highly prevalent (72 percent) than the others.CONCLUSIONSA substantial proportion of children with speech problem had ankyloglossia (80 percent). So, all the children with speech difficulty should be screened for ankyloglossia and correction undertaken. Awareness should be created among the common people about ankyloglossia, and the treatment options available.