Screening for infants with developmental deficits and/or autism: a Swedish pilot study
Bengt Persson1, Berit Nordstrom, Kerstin Petersson
1Department of Nursing, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. bengt.persson@ltkronoberg.se
Insights
A new screening tool, the Screening for Early detection of Emotional and Cognitive issues (SEEK), effectively identifies infants at risk for developmental deficits and autism spectrum disorder by 8 months. This method shows promise for early intervention in child health care.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Child Psychology
- Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
Background:
- Early detection of developmental deficits and autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) is crucial for timely intervention.
- Existing screening methods may not be optimized for very young infants.
- There is a need for validated instruments to identify at-risk infants early in primary care settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate the Screening for Early detection of Emotional and Cognitive issues (SEEK) instrument.
- To assess the feasibility and user satisfaction of SEEK for early detection of developmental deficits and/or ASD in infants by 8 months.
- To establish a systematic methodology for infant screening in child health care centers.
Main Methods:
- Development of the SEEK instrument for early detection of developmental deficits and/or ASD.
- Screening of 312 infants by trained health visitors at eight child health care centers in southern Sweden.
- Follow-up assessment at 18 months for infants identified with potential concerns.
Main Results:
- The SEEK instrument identified 5 infants with concerning signs, and 21% of infants scored at least one point on SEEK.
- At 18-month follow-up, 5 children continued to exhibit significant developmental problems.
- Health visitors reported high satisfaction with SEEK, noting its ease of use and administration.
Conclusions:
- The SEEK instrument demonstrates potential as a tool for the early detection of developmental deficits and/or ASD in infants.
- The study indicates a promising new systematic methodology for infant examination that warrants further development.
- Early identification through tools like SEEK can facilitate timely support and intervention for children with developmental concerns.
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument (SEEK) for the early detection of developmental deficits and/or autistic spectrum disorders among children by the age of 8 months at eight child health care centers in southern Sweden. Health visitors, trained by the research team, screened 312 infants. SEEK captured 5 infants with several points. Twenty-one percent of the infants obtained at least one SEEK point. At the 18-month follow-up, 5 children still showed more obvious signs of developmental problems. The health visitors found SEEK to be very satisfactory and easy and quick to use and its items and questions to be easy to administer. The results have indicated a new systematic methodology to examine infants, which is to be further developed.
