International variation in programmes for assessment of children’s neurodevelopment in the community: Understanding disparate approaches to evaluation of motor, social, emotional, behavioural and cognitive function

Abstract

Developmental surveillance programmes vary greatly and their structure appears to be driven by historical factors as much as by evidence. Consensus should be reached about which surveillance activities constitute screening, and the predictive validity of these components needs to be established and judged against World Health Organization screening criteria. Costs and consequences of specific programmes should be assessed, and the issue of inter-professional communication about children at remediable developmental risk should be prioritised.

Comparative use of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires in the USA and Scandinavia: a systematic review

“…Evidence from the included articles, combined with knowledge of the Scandinavian model of preventive care, highlights many opportunities. First steps include norming the latest versions of the ASQ and ASQ:SE and then evaluating their impact in home‐visit, primary care medical, and early learning/preschool settings.…”

“…All families are provided paid parental leave in the first year of life, subsidized day care, and affordable early learning/preschool. Country‐specific early detection policies should be viewed in this context . Centralized authorities do not currently recommend universal, broadband developmental–behavioural screening using psychometrically sound, parent‐centred instruments .…”

“…Country‐specific early detection policies should be viewed in this context . Centralized authorities do not currently recommend universal, broadband developmental–behavioural screening using psychometrically sound, parent‐centred instruments . Instead, practitioner‐administered screening is variably performed by nurses or doctors using a variety of narrow‐band instruments (e.g.…”

“…15 Centralized authorities do not currently recommend universal, broadband developmentalbehavioural screening using psychometrically sound, parentcentred instruments. 15 Instead, practitioner-administered screening is variably performed by nurses or doctors using a variety of narrow-band instruments (e.g. the Alarm Distress Baby Scale, which measures social withdrawal behaviour, or specific tests of motor function).…”

Brief Evidence-Based Interventions for Universal Child Health Services: a restricted evidence assessment of the literature

“…In the absence of a universally agreed de nition of what is considered a 'brief' intervention in child service delivery, we decided to use four sessions as our cut-off. The principal reason for this decision is that, in comparisons of the number of visits recommended in the child health policies of high-income countries of Australia, Canada, USA, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway [19,20], the four sessions mandated in the UK is the lowest reported (Health Child Programme, 2009) [21]. Thus, interventions delivered across four sessions could be adapted to even the country with the briefest opportunity to implement (e.g.…”