engleski

Minor anomalies in developmentally disturbed children

Minor anomalies may occur in completely healthy individuals, but their frequency is significantly increased in some groups with prenatal developmental disturbances. High frequency of minor anomalies observed in particular group of children may serve as an indicator of disturbed prenatal development. In the present study minor physical anomalies were examined in a group of developmentally disturbed (DD) children, The sample comprised 606 children and adults aged 5 to 20 years (303 DD children, and 303 controls). The patient sample of 303 DD children comprised 176 mentally retarded (MR), 70 children with hearing impairment (HI), and 57 children with visual impairment (VI). The control sample included 303 healthy subjects matched in sex and age. Waldrop physical anomaly score was used to assess minor anomalies in all groups. There were no significant sex differences in number of minor anomalies in different groups. The average number of minor anomalies per individual or Waldrop 1 (Wl) was significantly higher in DD children (M = 3.81) than in control group (M = 1.99 ; P < 0.001). Waldrop weighted score (W2) was also significantly higher in DD children (M = 3.80) comparing to healthy controls (M = 1.82 ; P < 0.001). The high values of W1 and W2 comparing to normal controls were obtained in the groups of MR, HI and VI children. The obtained findings of high number of minor anomalies per person and their high weighted score in DD children suggest that basic developmental problems in particular groups could be attributed to the common underlying factors acting during early prenatal development.

abnormalities; complications; impaired hearing; impaired vision; mental retardation

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