Knowledge of clinicians to screen children under the age of five years for developmental disabilities at two selected hospitals in Lusaka District, Zambia
Loading...
Date
2021-04-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
about 93 million children have disabilities. Early identification of developmental disabilities (DDs) and application of measures to habilitate the affected can help such children reach their full prospective. Clinicians who regularly attend to children under the age of five years are the best people to identify children with DDs. The objective of this research was to assess clinicians’ knowledge to screen DDs in children under the age of five years from two selected hospitals in Lusaka, Zambia. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted from clinicians drawn from selected two hospitals in Lusaka district. Eighty-eight participants answered a self-administered questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the association between participants’ sociodemographic characteristic and awareness of risks for children to develop DDs and the knowledge to screen for DDs. The data was analysed using Stata 13.1. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Participants’ median age was 28 (IQR, 25-36.6) and the majority 67 (76.14%) were females. Thirty-six (40.91%) of participants were aware of risks for under-five children to have DDs and only 27 (30.68%) of participants had the knowledge to screen DDs in children under the age of five years. Factors that are associated with awareness are participants’ institution and profession. Physicians were the most aware of risks for children under the age of five years to have DDs while nurse-midwives were the least to be aware of risks for children under the age of five years to have DDs. Furthermore; participants’ institution was associated with participants’ knowledge. The study has shown that most clinicians do not routinely conduct developmental screenings. This might lead to under-detecting significant DDs. The study also agrees that screening instruments developed and used so far have had limitations in terms of key issues relevant to LAMI countries which may pose a challenge regarding compliance on the use of screening instruments and detection of DDs. There needs to be a tool that will promote relationships between care providers and caregivers at the community level.