Validity & reliability determination of Parents Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) in 4-60 months old children in Tehran city

Headnote

Keywords: Development, Developmental Delay, PEDS, Screening, ASQ

Background: This research was designed to identify the validity and reliability of Parents Evaluation of Developmental Status, a developmental screening questionnaire, in 4-60 months old children in Tehran city.

Methods: At first a precise translation of the questionnaire was done by the research team and then the Persian version was back translated by three English language experts, who were unfamiliar with the PEDS. The back translated version was compared with the original version. Next the content validity of the finalized Persian version was verified by three pediatricians familiar with child development and also by reviewing relevant books and journals. Then, test was performed on 648 children ranging from 4 to 60 months old, in four health care clinics, in north, south, east and west regions of Tehran city. In order to determine the agreement coefficient, these children were also evaluated by ASQ at the same time. Available sampling was used until the desired sample number was achieved. Test-retest methods (by 2-3 weeks interval) and Cronbach's α were used in order to determine reliability of the test. Because there was no developmental gold standard diagnostic test accessible, the Kappa agreement coefficient between PEDS and ASQ, another developmental screening questionnaire was estimated. The data was analyzed by SPSS software.

Findings: All of the questions in PEDS had content validity and there was no need to change them. The total Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.63. By considering the low items number of PEDS, the estimated value was acceptable. The Cronbach's α coefficient of test- retest was 0.87 that is good (P<0.001). The estimated Kappa measure agreement between PEDS and ASQ was 0.30 (P<0.001), because the large sample size and similarity of the result of screening in 71.5%, it is possible to conclude that this measure is acceptable. Developmental disorders were observed in 23.1% of children (4.6% delayed and 18.5% questionable) who were examined by PEDS, and in 26.4% of children who were examined by ASQ (14.7% delayed and 11.7% questionable).

Conclusion: This research showed that PEDS has a good content validity and reliability and can be used for developmental screening of children in Tehran city. Because the test is brief, using it can lead to saving time and resources.