Evaluation of the developmental growth of children in the first year of life based on ASQ Questionnaire

The evaluation of the developmental growth of children in one year can be an indicator of the future status and many problems that are treatable by intervention. The aim of this study was to investigate the developmental growth of the children in the first year of life using ASQ questionnaires in 2015 in Urmia city, Iran.
This was a descriptive cross sectional study that conducted on 422 children who had 6- 12 months old that were selected by the cluster random sampling method. At first 10 urban health centers of Urmia selected, and then based on the number of clients, each cluster was awarded quota. The developmental status of children was measured using "Ages and Stages Questionnaires" (ASQ). The validity and reliability were 0.84 and 0.94, respectively and the ability of test in determining the developmental delays was more than 96%. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16, and Pearson correlation, independent t-test were used.
The results showed that 50.5% of children were female. The prevalence of developmental delays of children was obtained 18.8%. The highest and the lowest prevalence were related to the area of communication (7.1 %) and the area of gross motor (0.9 %), respectively. The developmental delays of children in males was higher than females. There were a positive significant correlation between the area of communication and gross motor(R=0.209¡ P=0.001) as well as between problem solving and personal-social (R=0.122¡ P=0.012).
Considering the noticeable number of developmental delay of the children, it is recommended that screening programs and continues follow-up should be considered in terms of development growth of the children.