In today’s world, the prevalence of developmental disabilities among children is high but the amount and adequacy of services and interventions available to help these children are low. Updated estimates can help increase awareness and understanding of the requirements and needs of the population. In a study done in 2018, using the National Health Interview Survey, researchers were able to see the change over time in the demographics of developmental disabilities over a 9-year period. They found out that there was an overall significant increase in the prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and other developmental disabilities. There was, however, a substantial decrease for any other developmental delay. This leads to an overall trend of about 1 in every 6 children between the age of 3 to 17 in the United States being reported as having a developmental disability. There was a higher prevalence among the male gender, older children, children with a birth weight <2500 g, non-Hispanic white children, children with public insurance, children with parents with a high school education or less, and children below the poverty line. This growth in percentage leads to the importance of conducting more research on the characteristics of the diseases and what we can do in children-related environments to help their developmental processes. Studies like these can also help us discover more services and interventions for this population. 

Tulsi Patel

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Link: https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/144/4/e20190811/76974/Prevalence-and-Trends-of-Developmental?autologincheck=redirected?nfToken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000

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