Prospective cohort study and risk factor analysis of language delay based on outpatient in Xiamen / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the social family factors influencing language delay in children with the age ranging from 18 to 42 months in Xiamen.Methods:A prospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate children with language delay (case group) and normal controls (control group) in Child Health Clinic and Developmental Behavior Clinic of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University between July 2017 and July 2019 via a self-made questionnaire and a language development scale, and the case-control ratio was 1∶4.The chi- square test, Logistic regression and generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction (GMDR) were adopted for statistical analysis, and the correction analysis was performed with Bonferroni correction. Results:A total of 126 children with language delay were collected in the case group, with the ratio of male to female being 2.05∶1.00. The control group was included 504 cases.There was no significant difference in gender and age between both groups.The chi- square test showed that there were statistical differences in maternal culture and screen time distribution between both groups ( P<0.05/13). Besides, the multivariate Logistic regression analysis suggested that significant risk factors for language delay in children included maternal culture, maternal-child interaction, and screen time.The GMDR analysis showed that screen time was the optimal single-mode for children at risk of language delay, while maternal culture and screen time constituted a statistically different two-factor model.Moreover, the marital-child interaction was included into the three-factor model. Conclusions:Screen time and maternal culture were the most important risk factors for language delay in children of Xiamen, and both factors would interact with maternal-child interaction, which could exert impacts on language delay in children.