Abstract
One hundred and ten neonates requiring intensive care and felt to be at risk for developmental deficits were followed for periods up to 2 years. Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST) and Bayley Scales were administered alternately at 6 month intervals. The DDST was scored as normal or abnormal and the Bayley was considered abnormal if the Mental Developmental Index (MDI) was less than 80. Data was analyzed in terms of conditional probabilities; that is, the percent of later diagnoses of normality or abnormality predicted from earlier testing.
Results: Assuming the 24 month test has the most predictive validity, then these results suggest that testing prior to 18 months may not reliably predict later performance. This may be explained by the fact that early developmental assessment consists of primarily sensory and motor tasks; whereas later tests begin to stress verbal and conceptual abilities. Parents of infants considered to be high risk due to perinatal events should be encouraged to participate in long term evaluations and overly optimistic prediction pased on early motor progress alone should be avoided.
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Cardozo, K., Bauer, C. & Bancalari, E. 30 PREDICTABILITY OF DEVELOPMENTAL TESTING IN HIGH RISK INFANTS. Pediatr Res 12 (Suppl 4), 368 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197804001-00035
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197804001-00035