PREVALENCE OF CEREBRAL-PALSY AMONG 10-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN IN METROPOLITAN ATLANTA, 1985 THROUGH 1987

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.