Abstract :
Introduction: Neurodevelopmental diseases associated with intellectual disability affect cognitive functioning, which includes learning, problem solving, and judgement. Adaptive functioning includes everyday tasks including social interaction and communication skills.Materials and Methods: This study compares demographic, development, function, healthcare utilization, and social outcomes in two groups of participants. Participants in Group-2 were older mean age = 9.81 years and indicates more physical growth, with higher mean values for weight, height, and BMI, than in Group-1 (mean age = 3.38 years). Gender composition was similar for both groups, with males being predominant.Result: Developmental testing showed much greater scores in Group-2 for Developmental Quotient mean = 61.86 vs. 55.33, p < 0.03078 and Developmental Age in years mean = 5.25 vs. 1.73, p < 0.00001, with no significant differences for Developmental Age in months. Functional analysis identified Social Age in years was significantly higher in Group-2 mean = 5.58 vs. 2.42, p < 0.00001, but effects of Social Age in months and Social Quotient were insignificant. Both groups showed universal need for special education, but increased consumption of therapy services was detected in Group-1 57.81% vs. 17.18%.Conclusion: Hospitalization and drug use were similar. Social outcome measures revealed comparable degrees of peer interaction, family support, and parental education, although Group-2 comprised more low socio-economic status (87.50% as opposed to 78.12%). The findings suggest that while Group-2 individuals are older and have superior developmental and functional outcomes, they experienced more socio-economic challenges and fewer therapeutic intervention accesses compared to Group-1.
Keyword :
Socio-economic disparities, Therapy services utilization, Paediatric development, Healthcare access, Child health, Demographic comparison, Paediatric disability, Parental education, Medication usage, Physical growth parameters