BMJ Paediatrics Open · 10 authors, 4 centres
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This cross-sectional study screened 509 children in a Kenyan informal settlement and a comparison Italian sample using the CDC checklist and M-CHAT-R to assess feasibility of early neurodevelopmental screening in low-resource settings. Of those screened, 8.6% were classified at-risk, and the study confirmed the feasibility of applying these tools outside high-income countries.
This cross-sectional study assessed the feasibility of early screening for neurodevelopmental disorders in 509 children living in an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, and a comparison Italian sample, using the CDC checklist and M-CHAT-R. Significant risk factors for failing the developmental assessment included history of low birth weight and Apgar score, presence of neurological disorders, malnutrition and/or rickets, younger age of the child and older age of the mother. Caesarean section delivery, first pregnancy, and mothers' older age were common risk factors in both samples. The Italian sample had a significantly greater rate of missed milestones. The study demonstrated feasibility of using these screening tools in informal settlement dwellers. Limitations include single-site recruitment from a Child Welfare Clinic, non-generalizability to the broader Kenyan population, a 2:1 matching ratio between Italian and Kenyan children, wide confidence intervals for detected risk variables, and the cross-sectional design precluding causal inference.
