Bridging medicine and education for global developmental delay: a cluster sampling study on screening, diagnosis, and intervention in preschool children

Abstract

Background Global developmental delay (GDD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder in preschool children. Early screening and integrated intervention are critical for optimal neurodevelopment, yet robust evidence remains limited. Methods A non-randomized controlled trial was conducted included 3,216 children aged 3–6 years for three-level GDD screening. Thirty children with confirmed GDD [defined as total General Quotient <70 on the Chinese version of the Griffiths Mental Development Scales (GDS-C)] were allocated to receive 6-month medical-educational integrated intervention or conventional training (exploratory pilot trial); both the overall General Quotient and domain-specific subscale developmental quotients (DQ) were evaluated via GDS-C. Results The prevalence of GDD was 1.3%, with higher rates in boys and suburban areas. The integrated intervention group showed significantly greater DQ improvements in social, language, eye-hand coordination, visual performance, and practical reasoning domains (all p < 0.05), while no significant difference was observed in gross motor domain. Conclusion A comprehensive multi-component intervention program, encompassing integrated medical-educational components, structured parent training, and home-based intervention measures, yielded preliminary short-term developmental benefits compared with single institutional rehabilitation.