Association between Interruption of Intervention and Language Performance in Young Children with Language Delay - A cohort study during COVID-19 pandemic

Research Objectives: To assess the association between a three-month interruption of language intervention programs and the language performance of children with language delay during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to identify which children are more vulnerable to such interruptions.

Design: This retrospective study collected data on children from June 2020 to August 2022

Setting: This is a primary-care-center study.

Participants: This is a retrospective study involving 33 children with language delay who experienced a three-month suspension of language interventions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We collected their demographic data and language performance scores from the Comprehensive Developmental Inventory for Infants and Toddlers - Diagnostic test (CDIIT-DT) at four different time points. The scores were analyzed using a Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test.

Interventions: All studied patients experienced a 3-month interruption from April 2021 to July 2021 during their rehabilitation.

Main Outcome Measures: The study outcome was measured using the Comprehensive Developmental Inventory for Infants and Toddlers - Diagnostic test (CDIIT-DT), which evaluates the developmental level of infants and toddlers aged 3 to 71 months across five domains: motor, language, cognition, social, and self-care skills.

Results: The median scores of language comprehension and overall language ability showed a decreasing trend during the interruption period. However, resuming interventions post-interruption showed a statistically significant increase in all language domains. Children in the borderline delay group (CDIIT-DT DQ scores between 71-85) were more likely to experience a decline in their language abilities during the interruption.

Conclusions: This is the first study to reveal a decreasing trend in language performance during interruption periods, and highlighting the significance of post-interruption language interventions in facilitating improvements. Furthermore, our study brings attention to the heightened vulnerability of children exhibiting borderline language delay in overall language ability tests when faced with interruptions in language interventions.