Indian Pediatr. 1991 Aug;28(8):859-67.

Trial of a screening technique of the developmental assessment of infants and young children (6 weeks-2 years).

Indian pediatrics

R Gupta, N V Patel

PMID: 1808073

Abstract

Six hundred and nineteen infants and young children from the slums of Jabalpur City were screened by twenty trained paramedical workers using the Woodside Screening Technique. A second screen was given by the author within three days of the first screen on 350 (56.5%) children. The tester/author agreement was 97%. The results of the Woodside Screening Technique were validated against the standard Gesell's Schedules. The specificity and sensitivity rates of 88 and 83%, respectively were better than the original Denver Developmental Screening Test (77% each). Over referral rates which vary between 10-28% were comparable to the original Denver Developmental Screening Test. The under referral rate was 24%. All children tested belonged to the deprived sections of society, having weights below 50th centile of Harvard Standards. Inspite of this 74% of children scored above and at par on the Gesell's Developmental Schedule, only 11% children showing any developmental abnormality. The need to eliminate the cultural bias from the test and draw a new threshold line to separate questionable cases from abnormal ones is highlighted. Recommendations and specific modifications of the Woodside Screening Technique are suggested.

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MeSH terms

• Child Development*
• Child, Preschool
• Cross-Sectional Studies
• Female
• Humans
• India
• Infant
• Male
• Mass Screening / methods
• Poverty Areas
• Urban Population

Publication Types

• Comparative Study
• Journal Article

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