Age of early milestones achievement and developmental outcome in children with Down syndrome

Abstract

Objectives In children with Down syndrome (DS), delay in the achievement of developmental milestones is well known, but its relation with later development is not completely clear. To our knowledge, there are few studies exploring the relationship between early milestones and the performance of children with DS on standard tools of developmental assessment from low and middle-income countries (LMIC). Methods Indian children with DS confirmed by karyotype analysis (4 months to 1 year) commenced on early intervention (EI) were studied for the age of achievement of four milestones: roll over, transfer of object; response to name, and sitting independently and these were correlated with composite scores on cognitive, language and motor domains of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-IIIrd edition, (Bayley-III) between 18 - 42 months of age at least one-year post-EI. Results Age of transfer of object and response to name correlated significantly with language and motor domains while age of roll over correlated with the motor domain. Age of sitting independently correlated significantly with all domains. Conclusions Age of key milestone achievements in the first year has a significant correlation with later developmental outcomes for Indian children with DS. However, large studies to understand and interpret the developmental pathways of children with DS holistically; including long-term follow up are needed to confirm our findings.