How Well Are Socioeconomic Factors Associated With Improved Outcomes for Infants Diagnosed With Early Childhood Developmental Delay? An Observational Study

PURPOSE: Early childhood developmental delay remains problematic worldwide in terms of weight and the five domains of child development, including gross motor, fine motor, cognition, language, and social domains. Based on the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline and the theoretical domain framework, this study identified five key socioeconomic factors, such as parenting time during hospitalization, parental educational level, medical spending, distance to hospital, and medical insurance coverage, to describe how these five factors are associated with improved outcomes of developmental quotient (DQ) values and the weight of infants in a tertiary hospital. METHODS: In this prospective observational study, clinical and socioeconomic data were collected. Clinical data included the weight and DQ values of infants and other data relevant to the birth of infants. A National Developmental Scale was used to observe infants in five domains and calculate the DQ values of infants. These five domains include gross motor, fine motor, cognition, language, and social domains. Parenting time during hospitalizations was observed by a research nurse. Other socioeconomic factors were reported by parents and verified with system information. RESULTS: A total of 75 infants' parents were approached, of which 60 were recruited. The age of infants ranged from 75 to 274 days at the first admission. Increments of their weight and DQ values improved from −0.5 to 2.5 kg and from −13 to 63, respectively. More than half of the parents (54.1%) were at the level of minimum secondary education although the results were not statistically significant. However, there was a positive correlation between weight improvement and parenting time during hospitalization (r(58) = 0.258, p < 0.05), medical spending (r(58) = 0.327, p < 0.05), distance to hospital (r(58) = 0.340, p < 0.01), but there was a negative association with medical insurance coverage (r(58) =-0.256, p < 0.05). There was also a significant relationship between the improved DQ value and distance to hospital (r(58)= 0.424, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Parenting time during hospitalization, medical spending, distance to hospital, and medical insurance coverage are important factors for early childhood developmental delay in relation to possible hospital intervention and improved accessibility to health services for families in rural areas. Therefore, changes in the current medical scheme are needed because a universal medical subsidy among regions will reduce the financial burden of families and provide families with more access to the necessary health services that their children need.