Relationship between maternal age and developmental status infants aged 6-18 months

Because of the need for more and different follow-ups in developmental delayed children, determining the effective factors, one of which is the mother's age during pregnancy, is important in any community. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the relationship between maternal age and developmental status of infants. This case-control study was performed on a multistage sampling method to examine the demographic characteristics and development of 6-18 months old infants who referred to comprehensive health centers (Qazvin, Iran) in 2017. Two hundred participants were evaluated in two groups of 100 subjects (with developmental delay) and control (normal development). The developmental status was measured using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) that have been standardized in Iran and have national cutting points. Notably, there were significant relations between mean maternal (P = 0.000) and father (P = 0.001) age with developmental status. Also, there was a significant relationship between developmental delay in the area of the communication (P = 0.000) and problem-solving (P = 0.008) with maternal age. However, there was no significant difference between maternal (P = 0.43) and paternal educational level (P = 0.34) with development status. Growth and development of children, especially development, is of particular importance. Given the relationship between maternal ages at pregnancy with developmental delay in this study, informing parents in this field can be effective in preventing the developmental delay.