Alterations in neurodevelopment in children under 5 years of age in two states of the Mexican Republic

Abstract There are more than 1 billion people with disabilities worldwide, with 16% of children having some type of neurodevelopmental disorder (ND). In Mexico, 6% of the population presented some disability; however, there is a lack of data on ND in children under 5 years of age. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of neurodevelopmental alterations in children under 5 years of age in urban, suburban, and rural populations from two states of Mexico. Methods: This was an observational and cross-sectional design study. We included 501 clinically healthy children from 0 to 60 months of age, from urban, suburban, and rural populations from the state of Queretaro (201) and from the State of Mexico (300). Neurodevelopmental alterations were detected through the electronic N-PED system, exploring areas of neurological development of language, psychomotor, and sensory (auditory and visual). The positive subjects were clinically assessed to confirm the diagnosis. Results: A 14.7% prevalence of ND was found, with a significant difference between Queretaro (8.9%) and the State of Mexico (18.7%). Language alterations were significantly different for both states (4.9% and 16% for Queretaro and the State of Mexico, respectively). Conclusions: The prevalence of ND and language alterations presented significant differences between the two evaluated states.