Neurodevelopmental disorders in low- and middle-income countries.

Abstract

Effective prevention and treatment of infectious diseases has led to a significant decrease in childhood mortality over the last decade in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). This is likely to increase the prevalence of neurodevelopmental impairments and disabilities, since there appears to be a greater mortality in children with neurodevelopmental disabilities than in typically developing children. There are considerable differences in the prevalence of severe or moderate neurodevelopmental disorders in LMIC, ranging from 19 to 63 per thousand in older children.1 This is likely to be an underestimate since the prevalence is dependent upon the age of children surveyed, with the sensitivity of the tools for detecting neurodevelopmental disorders (lower in young children) and many of the children with severe disabilities acquired early in life die prematurely in LMIC.