Ages and stages questionnaire as a screening tool for developmental delay in Indian children

Abstract

To evaluate the ability of Ages and Stages Questionnaire, a parent completed developmental screening questionnaire to detect developmental delay in Indian children. Cross-sectional study. Child Development Clinic of a tertiary care center located in Northern India. 200 children, 50 each in the age groups of 4±1, 10±1, 18±1 and 24±1 months were recruited (20 high risks and 30 low risks in each age group). The Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) was translated into Hindi and administered to the parents, followed by standardized development assessment using Developmental Assessment Scale for Indian Infants (DASII). 102 (51%) children failed on ASQ and 90 (45%) children failed on DASII. The overall sensitivity of ASQ for detecting developmental delay was 83.3% and specificity was 75.4%. The sensitivity was best for the 24-months questionnaire (94.7%) and specificity was best for the 4-month questionnaire (86.4%). The sensitivity of ASQ was much higher in the high risk group (92.3%) as compared to the low risk group (60%). ASQ has strong test characteristics for detecting developmental delay in Indian children, especially in high risk cases. It may be easily converted into other Indian languages and used widely for developmental screening.