United States - Metropolitan Atlanta Developmental Disabilities Study 1984-1990

The Metropolitan Atlanta Developmental Disabilities Study (MADDS) was the first population-based epidemiologic study of the prevalence of mental retardation, cerebral palsy, hearing impairment, and visual impairment among school-age children in the United States. The sample consisted of children who were 10 years of age between 1985 and 1987 and whose mothers were residents of Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett counties in Georgia at the time of the child's birth. A multiple-source case identification method was used to confirm specific conditions, collecting data from the records of various health, social services and education systems, of which there were an estimated 89,534 children surveyed. The study served as the foundation for the establishment of the Metropolitan Atlanta Developmental Disabilities Surveillance Program (MADDSP) in 1991.