Research Lead: James Guevara, MD, MPH
Supported By: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Dates: September 2008-September 2010
Background
The first three years of a child’s life are very important for development. Unfortunately, children with developmental challenges often do not receive necessary services at this early age. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) recently recommended that clinicians use standardized developmental screening instruments to monitor a child’s development at 9, 18, and 30 months of age. Research has shown that these tools can help identify developmental delays in children. However, there is no information about the best way to use these tools in pediatric practices.
Aims
Examine the relative effectiveness of various screening strategies aimed at identifying developmental delays in young children to determine:
- The feasibility of implementing developmental screening.
- The acceptance of developmental screening by pediatric practices.
- The adoption and adaptation of developmental screening in urban pediatric practices.
- The effectiveness of a developmental screening protocol that conforms to AAP/MCHB recommendations compared to the effectiveness of developmental surveillance alone.
Strategy
Study Design: Randomized clinical trial
Participants: 185 pediatric clinicians and 2,100 children aged 0-3 years
Progress
Enrollment of all 2,100 participants has been completed.
