Assessing the development of children with disability in Malaysia

This is a cross-sectional study investigating the profile of children with disability registered with the primary health care clinics in Malaysia. The purpose of the study was to assess the developmental stage of children with disability. Secondary data from the pilot project conducted by the Family Health Development Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia was used in this study. The study period was for six months from 1st August 2004 until 31st January 2005. A total of 900 disabled children were selected in this study. Schedule of Growing Scale (SGS) II was used for analysis. Results showed more boys than girls were affected with a ratio of 6:4. The mean total SGS score increases as the age of the child increased. The score was highest in delayed speech cases and lowest in cerebral palsy cases. The performance among children with delayed speech was the highest while children with cerebral palsy were the lowest. There was a statistically significant difference between the major ethnic groups in delayed speech and attention deficit hyperactive disorder.
Questionnaire: Denver Developmental Assessment Test II chart; DSST; Schedule of Growing Scale II; SGS