Objective: To explore the prenatal and perinatal risk factors for developmental coordination disorder (DCD) in children so as to provide a basis for etiological studies and early diagnosis on DCD.
Methods: Stratified clustered sampling was used to select 160 classes from randomly selected 15 public nursery schools which were distributed throughout the five main districts in Suzhou city. A total of 4 001 children were included in the study. Multilevel logistic regression and structural equation model (SEM) were used to analyze the risk factors of DCD.
Results: Results from the multilevel logistic regression model showed that when factors as:class internal clustering, children's gender, age and Kaup value etc., were under control, factors as acute fetal distress, premature and newborn pathological jaundice would be included in the model (OR values were 7.030, 3.374, 1.993, with all their Ps<0.001), and showing these variables were related to DCD.
Results: of SEM showed that the related coefficient between 'Minimal Brain Dysfunction' and 'Motor coordination skill' was -0.18 with statistical significance (P < 0.05). It also indicated that the minimal brain dysfunction would negatively impact on the children's motor skill.
Conclusion: There were risk factors of DCD noticed during the prenatal and peri-natal periods. Practitioners working at the maternity and child health care areas should improve the skills in assessing and monitoring the prenatal and peri-natal risk factors related to DCD, and to better carry out early screening, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of DCD.