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Developmental delay is a major pediatric concern, and children born preterm or requiring neonatal intensive care are at particularly increased risk. The Developmental Assessment Scale for Indian Infants (DASII) is a validated tool for evaluating motor and mental development in children up to 30 months of age, but detailed profiles of children referred for suspected developmental delay in Indian clinical settings remain sparse. This study aimed primarily to describe the developmental profile of children referred for developmental assessment using the DASII. As a secondary exploratory analysis, developmental measures were compared between term and preterm children, with recognition of the unstratified gestational grouping and potential differences in referral pathways and clinical characteristics.

This retrospective cross-sectional study analyzed medical records of 202 children aged 3-30 months who underwent DASII assessment between January 2023 and December 2025 at a developmental assessment center in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra, India. Motor and mental developmental quotients (Developmental Motor Quotient (DMoQ) and Developmental Mental Quotient (DMeQ)) and developmental ages were recorded. Outcomes were compared between term and preterm children using Student's t-test/Mann-Whitney U test and chi-square/Fisher's exact test, as appropriate.

Among 202 children assessed using DASII, motor developmental delay was present in 90.6% and mental developmental delay in 92.1%, with combined motor and mental delay being the predominant pattern (86.1%). In the exploratory term-preterm analysis, selected developmental scores and developmental ages differed between groups; however, DMoQ and DMeQ did not differ significantly after adjustment for multiple comparisons. A higher proportion of preterm children had no categorical mental developmental delay than term children; however, this finding should be interpreted cautiously given the referral-based design, unstratified gestational grouping, and small preterm subgroup.

Children referred for developmental assessment demonstrated a high burden of developmental impairment, with combined motor and mental delay being the predominant pattern. Differences between term and preterm children varied depending on the developmental measure used and should therefore be interpreted with caution. Prospective studies with larger sample sizes and comprehensive domain-specific assessments are warranted.