Background Although interventions on child development target supporting mothers' relationships with their children, little is known about maternal knowledge of child development in developing countries. The purpose of this study was to determine maternal knowledge about child development in Turkey. Methods The Caregiver Knowledge of Child Development Inventory (CKCDI) developed for this study consisted of questions on when children begin to demonstrate developmental skills and when caregivers should provide opportunities for developmental stimulation. Results In total, 1200 mothers of children aged Յ3 years chosen by random population-based sampling were administered the CKCDI in their homes. Of the 1055 mothers with complete data (88%), 64% had at most secondary school education and 11% were employed. The median CKCDI questionnaire score was 19 (highest possible score 40). Mothers believed that most developmental skills and activities should occur at later than normative ages and most mothers did not know that sight (52%), vocalization (79%), social smiling (59%) and overall brain development (68%) begins in the early months of life. In a linear regression model with CKCDI score as the dependent and age of child, number of children, maternal and paternal age and education as the independent variables, higher maternal education and lower number of children were found to be independent predictors of higher CKCDI scores (P < 0.001). Conclusions These results illustrate the degree to which caregivers from Turkey may be lacking information on early childhood development and that caregiver knowledge needs to be further investigated so that culture-specific and effective interventions can be planned.

The Care for Development Intervention is an effective method of supporting caregivers' efforts to provide a more stimulating environment for their children and can be used by health care professionals during visits for acute minor illness.

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Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is a serious complication of chronic peritoneal dialysis (CPD). In contrast to the adult population, there are few studies regarding EPS in paediatric CPD patients, and the majority of reported patients are from Japan. The aim of the present report is to define the incidence of EPS in our paediatric CPD patients and to describe the clinical and laboratory characteristics. A total of 104 paediatric patients were followed from November 1989 to November 2003 and two were diagnosed as EPS (1.9%). The dialysis periods of these patients were 45 and 53 months with 6 and 8 peritonitis episodes, respectively. Clinical signs of EPS developed 7 and 14 days after the removal of the dialysis catheter, and CPD was replaced by haemodialysis because of persistent peritonitis. One patient was well after surgical management but died 6 months later. The second patient who was treated with prednisolone remained well at 16 months. In conclusion, EPS is a rare but important complication of CPD. We recommend that all patients on CPD who develop ultrafiltration failure be evaluated radiologically for the occurrence of EPS. Management should be tailored to the individual patient.

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