PEDS and ASQ developmental screening tests may not identify the same children

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Developmental Psychology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Developmental screening tools like PEDS and ASQ are widely used in primary care.
• Limited comparative data exists on the performance of these tools in real-world settings.
• Disagreement between PEDS and ASQ was noted in a larger study.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the agreement between PEDS and ASQ developmental screening tools.
• To compare the performance of PEDS and ASQ in a primary care setting.

Main Methods:

• Parents of 60 children (9-31 months) completed both PEDS and ASQ screens during the same visit.
• Concordance and discordance between the two screening tools were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Overall, 37% failed PEDS and 27% failed ASQ.
• Only 52% of children passed both screens; 33% failed one but not the other.
• Agreement between PEDS and ASQ was fair and not statistically different from chance.

Conclusions:

• Substantial discordance exists between PEDS and ASQ developmental screens.
• The choice of screening instrument can impact the identification of children for further evaluation.
• Clinicians should be aware of potential discrepancies when using these tools under revised guidelines.