Patterns of attendance at developmental assessment clinics.

A random sample of 489 children was collected at birth. There were clinic records for only 356 (73 per cent) of these children, and from this number 30 left the district or died. The parents of those with record cards were invited to bring their children to clinic when they reached the age of four years. Only 152 children (47 per cent) attended. Of the non-attenders, 129 were traced to schools in the borough when they reached the age of five years, as were 67 (51 per cent) of the 133 children without record cards. The children seen only at school were compared with the children seen at a Local Authority developmental assessment clinic. The clinic group were judged to come from the higher social classes and to have higher IQs than the school group, which suggests that clinics may be catering for those whose need is least.