How Applicable Are Ages and Stages Questionnaires for Use With Turkish Children?

Abstract

The majority of eligible children cannot access early intervention services in Turkey, often because they are not assessed. The authors adapted the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) for Turkish children ages 3 to 72 months. Study participants consisted of 375 children who were classified as at risk for developmental delays, 564 children considered not at risk for developmental delays (both groups according to standardized assessments), and 39 children with known disabilities. The ROC analyses indicated that a two-domain criterion for classification would be used to classify children as at risk, unlike the original ASQ, which had a one-domain classification. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of ASQ were .94, .85, .97, and .75, respectively. Test—retest and interrater reliabilities calculated as overall percentage agreements were found to be 82% and 87%, respectively. The results demonstrated that the ASQ could be used to screen Turkish children who are at risk for developmental delays.