Introduction: Speech delay is a common problem in children less than 6 years. The reported prevalence of language delay in children two to seven years of age ranges from 2.3 to 19%. Various psychiatric disorders may manifest as speech delay in the early period. Usually, these children are initially seen by the primary care physician who gives reassurances and often fails to refer them to a psychiatrist. In these cases, the children miss out on the specialised assessment that they require and consequent help. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate each child with speech delay. Early identification and starting appropriate therapy as early as possible is very important for good clinical long term outcome. In this context, this study was carried out to investigate socio-demographic and other factors associated with speech delay.
Materials and Methods: A retrospective study design was used to collect data from case files of children aged less than 6 years who were referred to the psychiatric OPD for speech delay between May 2015 and May 2017. Their socio-demographic details, antenatal, perinatal and postnatal details, medical comorbidities, psychological assessment reports such as developmental and social quotient were collected and evaluated.
Results: In our study, speech delay was predominant in male child, middle and low socioeconomic status, semi-urban population & nuclear family. Mild deficits in developmental and social functioning was found according to DST and VSMS.
Conclusion: This study’s findings may prove relevant to therapists when planning comprehensive and effective treatment for such children.
Keywords: Speech delay, Specific developmental disorders of speech and language, Pervasive developmental disorders, Mental retardation.
