Clinical and environmental risk factors for childhood developmental disabilities: A narrative review (1990-2025)

Table 1 Summary of key studies included in the narrative review

Ref.	Design	Population	Exposure/intervention	Outcome measure(s)	Key findings/effect estimate
Solomon et al[5], 2018	Prospective cohort	Infants after cardiac surgery (India)	Cardiac surgery for CHD	Developmental assessment (Bayley)	Mean MDI/PDI below norms; motor delay > cognitive delay
Newburger et al[6], 2012	Multicenter cohort	Infants with HLHS (United States)	Norwood procedure	Bayley scales	Mean PDI 57-74, MDI 89-91 at 12-30 months
Raj et al[7], 2025	Prospective cohort	> 1000 infants post-cardiac surgery (India)	Cardiac surgery, perioperative factors	Developmental screening	Approximately 25% motor delay, > 15% cognitive delay; low BW, SES increase risk
Upadhyay et al[8], 2024	Cluster RCT	13500 mother-child pairs (India)	Community-based multidomain intervention	Bayley-III	Reduced delays by 33%-75%; cognitive gain > 8 points
Silveira et al[9], 2024	RCT	Very preterm infants (Brazil)	Parent-guided intervention	Bayley-III	Improved scores by 6-7 points at 18 months
Ait Belkacem et al[10], 2024	Prospective cohort	600+ mother-child pairs (Canada)	Maternal depression/anxiety	Fine motor delay at 18 months	aOR > 4 for fine motor delay
Ohara et al[11], 2025	Population cohort	64389 mother-child pairs (Japan)	Maternal mental health disorders	Developmental screening (0-3 years)	Approximately 3-fold higher odds of motor/problem-solving delay
Shin et al[12], 2025	Systematic review and meta-analysis	Children with DD, ASD, CP	Telehealth early intervention	Developmental quotients, functional gains	> 50% of ASD children improved ≥ 1 SD; comparable to in-person
Choi et al[13], 2024	Longitudinal cohort	Korean children (pre/post-pandemic)	COVID-19 pandemic exposure	Developmental screening	Increased delays in communication, social-emotional domains
Özkan[14], 2025	Single-center cohort	Turkish children (pre/post-pandemic)	COVID-19 pandemic exposure	Denver-II	Higher rates of developmental concerns post-pandemic
Hardie et al[15], 2026	Interrupted time series	Scottish children (pre/post-pandemic)	Public health measures during COVID-19	Developmental concerns	Increased social-communication concerns; SES gradient observed

CHD: Congenital heart disease; MDI: Mental development index; PDI: Psychomotor development index; HLHS: Hypoplastic left heart syndrome; BW: Birth weight; SES: Socioeconomic status; RCT: Randomized controlled trial; Bayley: Bayley Scales of Infant Development; aOR: Adjusted odds ratio; DD: Developmental disabilities; ASD: Autism spectrum disorder; CP: Cerebral palsy; COVID-19: Coronavirus disease 2019.