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Abstract
BackgroundPrevalence of communication delays or disorders is increasing, possibly because of various environmental risk factors. Selection and implementation of effective screening tools are important to detect at-risk infants as early as possible. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS), PEDS-Developmental Milestones and PEDS tools to detect communication delays in infants (6–12 months) in a South African primary healthcare context.MethodA comparative study design evaluated the accuracy of the PEDS tools to detect communication delays, using an internationally accepted diagnostic assessment tool, the Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale (RITLS). A convenience sample of 201 infants was selected at primary healthcare clinics.ResultsExpressive and receptive language sensitivity scores were low across all three screens (ranging between 14% and 44%). The PEDS tools had high sensitivity (71%) and specificity (73%) ratings for the receptive and expressive language and socio-emotional domain in combination.ConclusionIn the sample population, the PEDS tools did not accurately detect receptive and expressive language delays; however, communication delays in general were identified. Future research determining accuracy of the PEDS, PEDS-Developmental Milestones and PEDS tools for children aged 2–5 years in detecting communication delays should be prioritised.
Highlights
The prevalence of communication delays or disorders is increasing and may be ascribed to environmental factors such as unemployment, limited medical resources, lack of educational services, violence, crime and HIV or AIDS (Guralnick 2013)
If communication delays remain undetected until primary school years, a child is at greater risk for behavioural problems, academic failure and socio-emotional disturbances (Squires et al 2009; Yew & O’Kearney 2013)
A comparative cross-sectional within-subject design was employed to evaluate the accuracy of the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) tools in detecting communication delays using the Rossetti InfantToddler Language Scales (RITLS) as a gold standard
Summary
The prevalence of communication delays or disorders is increasing and may be ascribed to environmental factors such as unemployment, limited medical resources, lack of educational services, violence, crime and HIV or AIDS (Guralnick 2013). The high prevalence of developmental delays or disorders amongst infants in South Africa (Samuels et al 2012) necessitates selection and implementation of effective screening or developmental surveillance tools to identify at-risk infants as early as possible (Van der Linde et al 2015). Identification of and early intervention for infants at risk can prevent or reduce future developmental difficulties and academic failure whilst improving the quality of life for the infant and family (Samuels et al 2012) These services can prevent or lessen developmental and communication difficulties (Hawa & Spanoudis 2014), which implies less future financial expenditure for parents with regard to medical costs, transport fees to medical centres and/or speech therapy expenses. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS), PEDS-Developmental Milestones and PEDS tools to detect communication delays in infants (6–12 months) in a South African primary healthcare context
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