Cc. Murphy et al., PREVALENCE OF CEREBRAL-PALSY AMONG 10-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN IN METROPOLITAN ATLANTA, 1985 THROUGH 1987, The Journal of pediatrics, 123(5), 1993, pp. 190000013-190000020
The Metropolitan Atlanta Developmental Disabilities Study was a popula
tion-based study (1985 through 1987) to determine the prevalence of fi
ve developmental disabilities among 10-year-old children. The disabili
ties included cerebral palsy, mental retardation, visual impairment, h
earing impairment, and epilepsy. The prevalence of cerebral palsy (CP)
and a description of the children with CP are reported here. Using a
record review approach, we identified 204 10-year-old children with CP
(resulting in a prevalence of 2.3 per 1000). The rate of CP was signi
ficantly higher among boys (prevalence odds ratio = 1.5; 95% confidenc
e interval = 1.1, 2.0), and the rate was also higher among black child
ren than white children (prevalence odds ratio = 1.3; 95% confidence i
nterval = 1.0, 1.7). Thirty-three of the children (16%) acquired CP po
stnatally; these children were more likely to be black or male. The ge
nder and racial differences found for acquired CP were greater than th
ose for congenital CP. Approximately 75% of the children had one of th
e other four disabilities studied; 65% of the children were mentally r
etarded, 46% had epilepsy, and 15% hod a sensory impairment. Our multi
ple-source method of identifying children with CP gave us a population
-based sample from which to determine the prevalence of the condition
and to study factors that are associated with CP.