Screening for psychosocial development among infants in an urban slum of Delhi.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Psychosocial developmental screening of the infants in an urban slum of Delhi and studying the factors influencing the development. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study 202 infants and their mothers were included. Psychosocial Development Screening Test developed by Indian Council of Medical Research was used to asses the development status of infants, and the mothers were interviewed for socio-demographic details RESULTS: Infants who achieved milestones in time were 92.5% for personal skills, 91.8% for hearing language and concept development and 90.6% for gross motor milestones, respectively. These percentages were lower for Vision and fine motor (88.6) and social skills (81.4). Sex of the infant and socioeconomic status of their families significantly influences the few domains of development. Other factors like age of the infant, literacy of their mothers were not significantly influencing the development of infants. CONCLUSION: The objective evaluation and screening for psychosocial development of infants living tin urban slums is necessary for early detection and intervention.