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Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Using parent questionnaires to assess neurodevelopment in former preterm infants: a validation study
Mandy B Belfort1, Eilann Santo, Marie C McCormick
1Division of Newborn Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, MA, USA. mandy.belfort@childrens.harvard.edu
Insights
The Motor and Social Development (MSD) scale effectively assesses neurodevelopment in former preterm infants, offering a validated alternative to resource-intensive clinical evaluations. This parent-completed tool demonstrates good accuracy in identifying developmental delays.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Follow-up
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Infant Neurodevelopmental Assessment
Background:
- Former preterm and very low birthweight infants require ongoing neurodevelopmental surveillance.
- In-person assessments are costly and inconvenient for families.
- Validated developmental questionnaires are needed as an alternative to in-person testing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate the Motor and Social Development (MSD) scale for assessing neurodevelopment in former preterm infants.
- To determine the reliability and accuracy of the MSD scale compared to established developmental assessments.
Main Methods:
- A study involving 321 visits to a neonatal follow-up clinic.
- Parents completed the MSD scale, measuring cognitive, motor, and social abilities.
- Psychologists and physical therapists administered the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, 3rd edition (Bayley-III) for comparison.
Main Results:
- The MSD scale demonstrated moderate to high internal consistency (Cronbach alpha 0.65–0.88).
- The MSD scale showed moderate correlations with Bayley-III motor (r=0.49) and cognitive (r=0.45) scores.
- The MSD scale exhibited good discrimination for detecting low Bayley-III motor and cognitive scores (AUC=0.88 for both).
Conclusions:
- The MSD scale possesses good internal and concurrent validity.
- The MSD scale is a potentially valuable tool for neurodevelopmental assessment in former preterm and very low birthweight infants.
- The scale can be utilized in both clinical and research settings.
Background:
Former preterm and very low birthweight infants require close neurodevelopmental surveillance after hospital discharge, but in-person professional testing is resource-intensive and inconvenient for families. A standardised developmental questionnaire completed by parents offers an alternative to in-person testing, but few such questionnaires have been validated. Our aim was to validate the Motor and Social Development (MSD) scale in a sample of former preterm infants.
Methods:
We studied 321 visits to a neonatal follow-up clinic. Parents completed the MSD, which measures cognitive, motor and social abilities. Psychologists and physical therapists administered the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, 3rd edition (Bayley-III) cognitive and motor scales.
Results:
The median (range) gestational age was 28 (23, 34) weeks and birthweight 980 (400, 2700) g. Corrected age at study participation ranged 5-35 months. The mean (standard deviation) Bayley-III motor score was 94 (16), cognitive 98 (16) and MSD 91 (18). Internal consistency of the MSD was moderate to high (Cronbach alpha of 0.65 to 0.88). The MSD was moderately correlated with the Bayley-III motor (Pearson r = 0.49, P < 0.001) and cognitive (r = 0.45, P < 0.001) scales. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.88 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.81, 0.95] for the MSD to detect a low Bayley-III motor score (<70), and 0.88 [95% CI 0.82, 0.95] for a low cognitive score, indicating good discrimination.
Conclusions:
The MSD has good internal and concurrent validity, and may be useful for neurodevelopmental assessment of former preterm and very low birthweight infants in clinical and research settings.
