Denver Developmental Screening Test II (DDST-R) adaptation for a birth cohort research - PIPA Project

Abstract

Background/Aims: The Denver Developmental Screening Test II (DDST-R) was used to evaluate the neuropsychomotor development of babies during the birth cohort pilot of the Pipa Project. In the pilot, data and samples of prenatal exposure to metals, plasticizers and pesticides were colected from pregnant women and babies who were evaluated in their first, third and sixth months of age. It was noticed that the standard form of the DDST-R contains many open fields that represents a hindering factor for research. We aim to present a new proposal for the application of the test. Methods: The DDST-R form was adapted to a table with closed fields to be marked with diferent options, according to ages and questions about the development milestone in different fields. The options were: pass (P), fail (F), refuse (R), no opportunity (NO). The table had hatched areas that highlighted the responses that the baby should present at each age and milestone, highlighting the 75% and 90% percentiles. There was also a field for caution and delay quantification, to be applied in the interpretation of normal, suspect and non-testable situations. Results: We obtained a total of 18.5% of fail in the first evaluation, 24.1% in the second and 31.7% in the third. In the first one, we did not find any children with an interpretation of the suspected DDST-R, and 6.2% of the children were untestable. In the second one, 6.35% of the children presented a suspected result, none of which was not testable; and in the third, 5.15% of the children had a suspected interpretation and 1.32% was not testable Conclusions: The ease of marking in closed fields enabled a better evaluation and consequent interpretation of the results of the DDST-R, proving to be a good instrument for research in the field of health and birth cohorts.