Differences in psychomotor development among preschool children according to the type of early childhood education institution in Temuco, Chile.

Introduction. Psychomotor development is an essential indicator of child growth that integrates cognitive, motor, linguistic, and socio-emotional dimensions. Objective. To evaluate the association between the type of educational institution and psychomotor development in preschoolers. Population and methods. A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in 2019 among children aged 2 to 4 years attending public and private preschools. Psychomotor development was assessed using the Test of Child Learning and Development (TADI, by its Spanish acronym), validated in Chile. Multinomial logistic regression was performed, adjusting for socioeconomic status, maternal education, and the child's age, sex, and nutritional status. Results. A total of 151 children were included; 52.7% of the participants were girls, and the mean age was 40 ± 8.1 months. An association was observed between attending public facilities and a classification of risk or delay in global psychomotor development (OR = 7.34; 95%CI: 1.65-32.58; p <0.05) and cognitive development (OR = 10.83; 95%CI: 1.64-71.59; p <0.05), compared with private facilities. Male gender was associated with increased risk of, or delay in, global psychomotor development (OR = 6.53; 95%CI: 1.94-22.08), cognitive development (OR = 4.45; 95%CI: 1.41-13.99), and motor development (OR = 3.07; 95%CI: 1.17-8.08). Conclusion. The type of educational setting and gender were associated with differences in psychomotor development among preschoolers. The findings should be interpreted with consideration of possible sociodemographic and contextual factors that were not fully captured.