Gender and geographic differences in developmental delays among young children: analysis of the data from the national registry in Taiwan.
National data show Taiwan’s rural boys carry the heaviest developmental-delay load, and simply getting them listed is not enough—they still under-use services.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Lai et al. (2011) pulled every child in Taiwan’s national disability registry who had a developmental-delay code.
They counted how many kids were listed each year from 2003 to 2008.
Then they split the counts by boys vs girls and by big-city vs small-town vs rural areas.
What they found
Boys showed up in the registry far more often than girls.
Rural counties had more listed delays than cities.
The average age when a child first got added to the list dropped a little each year, but only by a few months.
How this fits with other research
Lin et al. (2009) saw the same rise in listed delays using the same registry for 2003-2007.
Lai et al. (2012) used the exact same method but looked at autism instead of general delays. They again found more boys and more urban cases, yet the urban gap was shrinking.
Lin et al. (2012) took the next step: they followed the listed rural and urban kids and showed rural children were only half as likely to actually use early-intervention services, even though they were already in the registry.
Why it matters
If you work in Taiwan—or any place with city-country gaps—expect more boys and more rural cases on your caseload. Don’t stop at identification; check if rural families can reach you. One quick move: offer tele-consults or travel days so those already-listed kids can start services, not just sit in the registry.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Although developmental delays are not uncommon in children, the incidence is seldom assessed, and the reported prevalence varies widely. In Taiwan, the government mandates the reporting of suspected cases. Using the national registry data, we conducted a study to estimate the incidence and prevalence of developmental delays in young children in Taiwan and to assess the gender and geographic differences. According to the law, each city and county in Taiwan needs to establish a reporting and referral center. The Department of Interior constructed a surveillance system on the basis of these centers and publishes the registry data annually. We analyzed the data from 2003 to 2008. From 2003 to 2008, 73,084 new cases were registered, and the incidence was 5.7-11.1 per 1000 person-year under 3 years of age and 7.9-11.4 per 1000 person-year at 3-5 years of age. The estimated prevalence was 8.6-16.6 per 1000 under 3 years of age and 26.2-47.6 per 1000 at 3-5 years of age. The average age at reporting decreased from 3.4 years in 2003 to 3.1 years in 2008. In addition, we found that boys had higher incidence than girls all through the years. Rural areas had higher incidence than urban areas, except for 2003.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2011 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2010.08.012