Alolama Fatma Mohammad, Mohammad Haitham Mahmoud, Alhmid Idris Helal, Alhammadi Hanan Mohammed
Child Health Section, Specialized Programs Services Department, Primary Health Care Sector, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Medical Affairs Department, Primary Health Care Sector, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Front Pediatr. 2022 Aug 22;10:924017. doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.924017. eCollection 2022.
Early detection of developmental problems is vital for facilitating early access to targeted intervention and augmenting its beneficial outcomes. Standardized developmental screening tools are known to enhance detection rates of developmental problems compared to clinical judgment alone and are widely recommended to be used in infants and young children. Most of the available developmental screening tools have been developed in Western countries. Many of their items may not be suitable for other cultures while others are expensive. Currently, none of the developmental screening tools have been validated in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with only a few available in the Arabic language.
To create and validate a developmental screening tool, in both English and Arabic, that is simple, quick to use, and culturally relevant to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) child population aged 9-48 months.
The available literature was used to create a list of developmental milestones in five domains for children aged 9-48 months, divided into seven age groups. The selected milestones were used to create questionnaires in both English and Arabic, which were pilot tested twice. Each time, the results were analyzed and used to select, modify, and rephrase questions. Validation of the Dubai Tool for Developmental Screening (DTDS) was done against Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) as a gold standard instrument. The DTDS and PEDS were administered cross-sectionally to parents of 1,400 children in seven age groups. Sensitivity, specificity, and kappa agreement of the DTDS compared with PEDS were calculated.
The DTDS had a sensitivity of 100% in four age groups and 75-78% in the other three age groups. Specificity ranged from 96 to 99% across all age groups. The kappa measure showed substantial agreement in five age groups, a moderate agreement in one age group, and a fair agreement in one age group.
The DTDS is a valid screening tool for early identification of developmental delays and disabilities in early childhood.
早期发现发育问题对于促进尽早获得有针对性的干预并增强其有益效果至关重要。与单纯的临床判断相比，标准化发育筛查工具已知可提高发育问题的检出率，并且被广泛推荐用于婴幼儿。大多数现有的发育筛查工具是在西方国家开发的。它们的许多项目可能不适用于其他文化，而其他一些则很昂贵。目前，没有一种发育筛查工具在阿拉伯联合酋长国（阿联酋）得到验证，只有少数几种有阿拉伯语版本。
创建并验证一种发育筛查工具，该工具兼具英文和阿拉伯文版本，简单易用，并且与阿联酋9至48个月大的儿童群体具有文化相关性。
利用现有文献列出9至48个月大儿童五个领域的发育里程碑清单，分为七个年龄组。所选的里程碑用于创建英文和阿拉伯文问卷，并进行了两次预测试。每次都对结果进行分析，并用于选择、修改和重新表述问题。以《父母发育状况评估量表》（PEDS）作为金标准工具，对迪拜发育筛查工具（DTDS）进行验证。DTDS和PEDS对七个年龄组的1400名儿童的家长进行了横断面调查。计算了DTDS与PEDS相比的敏感性、特异性和kappa一致性。
DTDS在四个年龄组中的敏感性为100%，在其他三个年龄组中的敏感性为75 - 78%。所有年龄组的特异性范围为96%至99%。kappa测量显示，在五个年龄组中一致性较高，在一个年龄组中一致性中等，在一个年龄组中一致性尚可。
DTDS是一种有效的筛查工具，可用于早期识别幼儿期的发育迟缓与残疾。
