Developmental evaluation at age 4: Validity of an Italian parental questionnaire

Abstract

The QS4-G seems to be a valid tool for identifying 4-year-old children at risk for low or borderline cognitive development and/or problematic behaviour who need a complete assessment. It can describe individual neuropsychological profiles. QS4-G is not a diagnostic tool. It is useful for outcome studies in preterm children and in other pathologies. It could also be useful for preschooler prevention programmes.

The Global School Adaptation Score: A New Neurodevelopmental Assessment Tool for Very Preterm Children at Five Years of Age

“…2,27,28 Assessment by people close to the child, whether parents or teachers, provides valuable information. 6,22,29 The observations and evaluations made by the teacher, who assesses the child in comparison with other children from the same school class (who constitute the control group), are a particularly rich source of information on the child's self-confidence and autonomy. Thus, the GSA score is complementary to the IQ score and provides additional data to assess the neurodevelopmental outcomes of premature infants.…”

Usefulness of Parent-Completed ASQ for Neurodevelopmental Screening of Preterm Children at Five Years of Age

“…These tools assess the child in his/her own environment, while standardized developmental tests like the IQ score are performed during a limited period, by persons unknown to the child, and are often tiring [18]. Screening tools completed by children’s proxies have been demonstrated to be of great value and to enable accurate and reliable assessments [19]–[21]. In this regard, the Global School Adaptation (GSA) score obtained from teacher questionnaires has been established as a reliable tool for the early detection of children with school adaptation difficulties that can result in learning disabilities [22].…”

Predictive validity of the Italian parental questionnaire for developmental evaluation at age 4 (QS4‐G)

“…Moreover, screening tools are often used in general and developmental paediatrics, as well as in schools, for preventive care programmes. Evaluation through questionnaires and interviews is often used for these goals …”

“…In a previous study, we constructed and validated a parental questionnaire (QS4‐G: Parent Questionnaire for the Developmental Evaluation of 4‐Year‐Old) designed to evaluate neuropsychological and behavioural developmental status of 4‐year‐old children and to identify children at risk for whom further evaluation will be necessary . The QS4‐G consists of 93 questions (items): 87 are multiple‐choice (‘often’, ‘sometimes’, ‘never’) and 6 have two possible answers (‘yes’, ‘no’).…”

“…Area‐specific cut‐off were also identified through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (area under the curve (AUC) > 0.75 and sensitivity and specificity >0.70). The validation was conducted on preterm and at‐term children (263 as a whole) …”