Abstract
Introduction: Children younger than 5 years are in the fastest growth and developmental period of their lives. Regarding this, the present study was conducted to determine the effect of a developmental stimulation program on language evolution criteria in 1- to 3-year-old children with celiac disease. Materials and Methods: This clinical trial was performed on two groups (i.e., intervention and control) of 50 children aged 1-3 years with celiac disease using random allocation technique. A developmental stimulation program was implemented for the children in the intervention group in two-hour sessions every week for 2 months. The language evolution age was evaluated by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (Bayley-III). The data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 11.5). Results: The mean age of the participants was 20.6±4.4 months. Prior to the intervention, the mean age of receptive and expressive language development showed no significant difference between the two groups (P=0.672 and P=0.166, respectively). Similarly, immediately after the intervention, the mean age of expressive language development in the intervention group (21.5±3.8) underwent no significant increase, compared to that in the control group (19.1±4.5). This variable was not also significantly different between the groups in the four-month follow-up (P=0.076). Nonetheless, with regard to the mean age of receptive language evolution, this variable demonstrated a significant increase in the intervention group (24.2±4.8), compared to that in the control group immediately after the intervention (19.1±4.3; P=0.002). The results of the four-month follow-up were also indicative of a significant difference between the two groups in terms of the mean age of receptive language evolution (p <0.001). Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, the developmental stimulation program can be used for promoting receptive language skills in children with celiac or other chronic diseases.
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