Report: Young Children Not Being Screened for Developmental Delay
<p>In the new Commonwealth Fund publication, <a href="/cnlib/pub/enews_clickthrough.htm?enews_item_id=30906&return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecommonwealthfund%2Eorg%2Fpublications%2Fpublications%5Fshow%2Ehtm%3Fdoc%5Fid%3D605625%26%23doc605625">Developmental Screening in Primary Care: The Effectiveness of Current Practice and Recommendations for Improvement</a>, Laura Sices, M.D., of the Boston University School of Medicine reports there is significant under-detection of developmental delays in early childhood.<br><br>In examining the effectiveness of efforts undertaken by primary care providers to detect developmental delays in early childhood, Sices determined that early intervention programs aimed at addressing these concerns serve only 2.3 percent of children under age 3--despite the presence of delays in at least 10 percent of children. And although American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines support the use of validated developmental screening tools, these instruments are not widely used in pediatric practice.<br><br>The author says that it will be necessary to address financial, educational, and other barriers to physicians' use of developmental screening tools. In addition, residents in pediatrics and family medicine need to be trained to use these tools as part of routine pediatric care.</p>
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletters/ealerts/2007/dec/report--young-children-not-being-screened-for-developmental-delay