Risk Factors Associated with Language Development Problems in Childhood - A Literature Review
Bhunyabhadh Chaimay MPH*, Bandit Thinkhamrop PhD*, Jadsada Thinkhamrop MD**
Affiliation : * Department of Biostatistics and Demography, Faculty of Public Health, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen ** Department of Obstetrics & gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen
Background : Children with language problems are found to have a higher risk for future academic difficulties
and learning disabilities. Conclusions from related literature were in many ways inconsistent.
Objective : To identify systematically, the existing literature, and factors that influence language development
in children.
Materials and Methods : Databases of scientific literature were screened through the internet for publications
that involved factors effecting language development in childhood. Hard copies of related scientific journals
were also sought for relevant topics by the authors, making use of reference lists of publications, and citation
search. Studies were included if they were published since 1984 and investigated factors that affect language
development in children. They were excluded if they were not original research articles.
Results : Fifteen studies were included for this review - a case-control study, a cross-sectional study, and
thirteen longitudinal studies. Most studies demonstrated that the following factors affect language develop-
ment - antenatal care, Apgar scores, birth weight, premature delivery, birth order, parental education,
environmental factors, gender of the children, and family history with specific language impairment.
Conclusion : Perinatal/postnatal and environmental factors influence language development. Such factors
should be taken into account as confounding factors in further language development studies.
Keywords : Language development, Child language development, Antenatal care, Apgar score, Birth weight, Premature, Birth order, Parental education, Environmental factors, Gender and family history, Perinatal, Postnatal, Social and Literature review
