HYDERABAD: A massive 9.6 percent children in 2-6 age group and 14.4 percent children in 6-9 age group have at least one neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) while 3.3 percent and 2.4 percent children in the two age groups have more than one NDD in Hyderabad, claims a recently published study. Neurodevelopmental disorders include a wide range of issues ranging from intellectual disability, visual and hearing impairment. The study involving 3,964 children from five geographically diverse populations in India, including 500 from Hyderabad, claims prevalence of NDD is an underestimated but serious public health concern nationally.
Prevalence of NDD among children aged 2-6 years and 7-9 years at 9.2 percent and 13.6 percent respectively across these five locations, many folds higher than Census 2011 data, as per which prevalence of all disabilities 0-4 years children was just 1.1 percent and in 5-9 year olds it was 1.5 percent.The study says, “To date, global health policy makers have relied on national census disability data, even though such an approach grossly underestimates disability prevalence among children.”
The study, ‘Neurodevelopmental disorders in children aged 2-9 years: Population-based burden estimates across five regions in India’ was conducted by Dr Narendra K Arora, Executive Director of The Inclen Trust International and published in PLOS medical journal. Among seven common NDDs assessed for the study, children affected by intellectual disability was 4.7 percent in 2-6 years of age and 8 percent among 7-9 years of age respectively in Hyderabad.