Developmental Testing

1995 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. 338-345
Author(s):  
Kathleen E. Gilbride
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Historical Review ◽  
Screening Tools ◽  
Screening Tests ◽  
Children At Risk ◽  
Behavioral Disturbances ◽  
Developmental Surveillance ◽  
Early Intervention Services ◽  
Parental Concerns ◽  
Sensitivity Specificity

Many screening tools are available to the pediatrician; the ones described here are just a sample of some that are used commonly. Understanding the purpose and limitations of each screening measure, in terms of reliability, validity, sensitivity, specificity, and the population for which it was designed, will help the pediatrician use these tools effectively to identify children at risk for developmental delay. Most importantly, the pediatrician should view screening tests as one source of information to be used in an overall strategy of developmental surveillance that includes careful historical review, systematic clinical observations, and solicitation of parental concerns and attitudes. Pediatricians play a central role in monitoring the development of infants and children during the course of providing well child care. Parents turn to pediatricians for help in determining whether their child has a temporary lag in development, a serious delay or disorder, or a significant behavior problem that should be addressed. With the passage of PL 99-457, pediatricians also play a key role in referring children at risk to early intervention services. By employing a strategy of developmental surveillance, with periodic developmental screening, the pediatrician can determine when a child should be referred for more extensive developmental or psychological testing, which will aid in the process of diagnosis and treatment of developmental disabilities and behavioral disturbances. Knowledge of the screening and testing measures used commonly, as well as their limitations, will result in more accurate interpretation of the data derived from such measures. Once delays are diagnosed and treatment is initiated, repeated assessments over time will serve to identify areas in need of continuing intervention while indicating gains made in specific areas of developmental functioning. Throughout this process, the pediatrician's role as advocate for the child and family serves as a bridge to other professionals and services, with the ultimate goal of facilitating the optimal development of the child.

Screening Tests for Pedophilia

1994 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
GENE G. ABEL ◽  
SUZANN S. LAWRY ◽  
ELISABETH KARLSTROM ◽  
CANDICE A. OSBORN ◽  
CHARLES F. GILLESPIE
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Child Molesters ◽  
Home Visits ◽  
Psychological Tests ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Screening Tests ◽  
Criminal Record ◽  
Standard Methods ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Sensitivity Specificity

Child molesters frequently position themselves in organizations so as to easily access children. Interviews for applicants of such positions, psychological tests, home visits to applicants' residences, criminal record checks for prior convictions, and letters of reference have all been used in an attempt to identify applicants with proclivities toward pedophilia, but none of these methodologies have been validated. The standard methods for reporting the effectiveness of screening tests are reviewed with special emphasis on the sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency of such testing, within the context of the prevalence of various diseases being screened for. Volumetric and circumferential phallometry have relatively high efficiencies, but their intrusiveness, cost, and the length of the assessment process preclude their use as a screening methodology for pedophiles within organizations. The efficiency of a new, less intrusive, screening methodology, the Abel Screen, compares favorably with phallometry in identifying those at risk for involvement with prepubescent and pubescent boys. The risk of applicants accessing boys in institutional settings could be significantly reduced by using the Abel Screen in such settings.

New Screening Tests to Identify Young Children at Risk for Mild Learning Problems

1998 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 302-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcia Strong Scott ◽  
Kathryn L. Fletcher ◽  
Beda Jean-Francois ◽  
Richard C. Urbano ◽  
Mercedes Sanchez
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Learning Problems ◽  
Screening Tests ◽  
Children At Risk

scholarly journals A Comparative Study of the Communication Profile of Typically Developing Children and Children with Receptive-Expressive Language Disorders: A Parental Perceptive

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-186
Author(s):  
Aiswarya L. Varghese ◽  
Chinnu Thomas ◽  
Megha Mohan ◽  
Sudhin Karuppali
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Intervention Program ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Expressive Language ◽  
Language Disorders ◽  
Communication Disorders ◽  
Phase Iii ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Children At Risk ◽  
Parental Concerns

Background: Parental concerns pertaining to communication abilities are essential as it does aid in the identification of the children at risk of physical and mental health problems. Objectives: The current study followed a cross sectional study design. The study focussed on developing a questionnaire targeting the parental concerns in Typically developing (TD) children and children with Receptive-Expressive Language Disorders (CWRELD) between 3.7 and 6.6 years of age; to administer the developed questionnaire on parents of TD children and CWRELD; and to analyse and compare the concerns faced by parents of TD children and CWRELD across 3.7 and 6.6 years of age. Methods: Fifty-one parents of TD children and 51 parents of CWRELD participated in the study. The study was carried out in three phases- Phase I included the development and validation of questionnaire; Phase II included data collection using the developed questionnaire; and Phase III included performing statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics was done to determine the mean and standard deviation (SD) for both the TD and CWRELD groups. Results: The results revealed that the concerns exhibited by parents of CWRELD were significantly higher than that of parents of TD children. Chi square results indicated statistically significant findings across all the domains between TD children and CWRELD (p<0.05). Conclusion: The developed questionnaire can be used in clinical settings to help track parental concerns which may aid in the early identification of children at risk of various communication disorders. Additionally, this questionnaire may be considered for monitoring parental concerns throughout the course of the intervention program.

scholarly journals Cribado de la desnutrición hospitalaria en la admisión: la desnutrición aumenta la mortalidad y la duración de la estancia hospitalaria

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabet Leiva Badosa ◽  
Maria Badia Tahull ◽  
Núria Virgili Casas ◽  
Gema Elguezabal Sangrador ◽  
Concepción Faz Méndez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Critical Care ◽  
Screening Tools ◽  
Nutritional Risk ◽  
Screening Tests ◽  
Severe Malnutrition ◽  
Critical Care Units ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Oncologic Patients

Introduction: Malnutrition is common in patients admitted to hospital and is associated with morbidity and mortality. We conducted a study to assess the prevalence of nutritional risk, risk factors associated and its consequences in a third-level hospital.Methods: This is a prospective nutritional screening study of hospitalized patients evaluated within the first 72 hours of admission, by Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) and Short Nutritional Assessment Questionnaire (SNAQ) screening tests. The variables recorded included demographic, anthropometric, hospitalization and clinical data.Results: Out of 409 patients, 12.7% and 15.3% were nutritionally at risk according to MUST and SNAQ, respectively, with the highest prevalence in critical care units (33.3%; 25.5%), amongst oncologic patients (17.5%; 28.4%) and those with higher Charlson Comorbidity Indices (CCI). Length of stay (LOS) was longer in patients at severe malnutrition risk (15.4 vs 9.9 days for MUST; 13.3 vs 9.9 days for SNAQ). Mortality was higher in those with high malnutrition risk (66.7% vs 10.9% for MUST; 50.0% vs 14.2% for SNAQ). Multivariate analysis showed that malnutrition was associated with CCI and mortality. Risk factors associated with LOS were admission as emergencies for both MUST and SNAQ tests. Conclusions: The prevalence of malnutrition is high in patients on admission to a third-level hospital, with a higher prevalence in critical care units, amongst oncologic patients and those with a higher CCI. Malnutrition is associated with longer LOS and higher mortality. The systematic clinical use of screening tools enables to detect patients at risk of malnutrition and take appropriate action.

Parental Concerns of Underserved Young Children at Risk for Autism

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 742-755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline N. Coffield ◽  
Jill F. Harris ◽  
Yvette M. Janvier ◽  
Marilyn Lopez ◽  
Natalia Gonzalez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Children At Risk ◽  
Parental Concerns

scholarly journals An App for Identifying Children at Risk for Developmental Problems Using Multidimensional Computerized Adaptive Testing: Development and Usability Study (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen-Fang Hsu ◽  
Tsair-Wei Chien ◽  
Julie Chi Chow ◽  
Yu-Tsen Yeh ◽  
Willy Chou
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Motor Skills ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Computerized Adaptive Testing ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Adaptive Testing ◽  
Screening Tools ◽  
Fine Motor ◽  
Children At Risk ◽  
Developmental Problems

BACKGROUND The use of multidomain developmental screening tools is a viable strategy for pediatric professionals to identify children at risk for developmental problems. However, a specialized multidimensional computer adaptive testing (MCAT) tool has not been developed to date. OBJECTIVE We developed an app using MCAT, combined with Multidimensional Screening in Child Development (MuSiC) for toddlers, to help patients and their family members or clinicians identify developmental problems at an earlier stage. METHODS We retrieved 75 item parameters from the MuSiC literature item bank for 1- to 3-year-old children, and simulated 1000 person measures from a normal standard distribution to compare the efficiency and precision of MCAT and nonadaptive testing (NAT) in five domains (ie, cognitive skills, language skills, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and socioadaptive skills). The number of items saved and the cutoff points for the tool were determined and compared. We then developed an app for a Web-based assessment. RESULTS MCAT yielded significantly more precise measurements and was significantly more efficient than NAT, with 46.67% (=(75-40)/75) saving in item length when measurement differences less than 5% were allowed. Person-measure correlation coefficients were highly consistent among the five domains. Significantly fewer items were answered on MCAT than on NAT without compromising the precision of MCAT. CONCLUSIONS Developing an app as a tool for parents that can be implemented with their own computers, tablets, or mobile phones for the online screening and prediction of developmental delays in toddlers is useful and not difficult.

scholarly journals An App for Identifying Children at Risk for Developmental Problems Using Multidimensional Computerized Adaptive Testing: Development and Usability Study

10.2196/14632 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. e14632
Author(s):  
Chen-Fang Hsu ◽  
Tsair-Wei Chien ◽  
Julie Chi Chow ◽  
Yu-Tsen Yeh ◽  
Willy Chou
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Motor Skills ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Computerized Adaptive Testing ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Adaptive Testing ◽  
Screening Tools ◽  
Fine Motor ◽  
Children At Risk ◽  
Developmental Problems

Background The use of multidomain developmental screening tools is a viable strategy for pediatric professionals to identify children at risk for developmental problems. However, a specialized multidimensional computer adaptive testing (MCAT) tool has not been developed to date. Objective We developed an app using MCAT, combined with Multidimensional Screening in Child Development (MuSiC) for toddlers, to help patients and their family members or clinicians identify developmental problems at an earlier stage. Methods We retrieved 75 item parameters from the MuSiC literature item bank for 1- to 3-year-old children, and simulated 1000 person measures from a normal standard distribution to compare the efficiency and precision of MCAT and nonadaptive testing (NAT) in five domains (ie, cognitive skills, language skills, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and socioadaptive skills). The number of items saved and the cutoff points for the tool were determined and compared. We then developed an app for a Web-based assessment. Results MCAT yielded significantly more precise measurements and was significantly more efficient than NAT, with 46.67% (=(75-40)/75) saving in item length when measurement differences less than 5% were allowed. Person-measure correlation coefficients were highly consistent among the five domains. Significantly fewer items were answered on MCAT than on NAT without compromising the precision of MCAT. Conclusions Developing an app as a tool for parents that can be implemented with their own computers, tablets, or mobile phones for the online screening and prediction of developmental delays in toddlers is useful and not difficult.

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