Sociocultural risk factors for developmental delay in children aged 3–60 months: a nested case-control study

Identifying children at risk for developmental delay (DD) is important for improving prognosis. In this sense, we estimated sociocultural factors that may be associated with DD in early childhood. In our nested case-control study, 95 were included in the case group and 190 were randomly selected to control group. To identify the risk factors, we conducted a backward conditional logistic regression and a final multivariable model was developed. Maternal age of ≥35 years, low maternal and paternal education level, low socioeconomic level, consanguineous marriage, and delivery by cesarean section increased the risk of DD. After adjustment, the risk of DD was significantly increased by maternal age ≥ 35 years (odds ratio (OR) 3.04, 95%CI 1.38–6.70), maternal education level of primary school or lower (OR 14.56, 95%CI 5.40–39.24), consanguineous marriage (OR 3.99, 95%CI 1.69–9.40), and delivery by cesarean section (OR 3.34, 95%CI 1.80–6.18).