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Published on: June 20, 2020
Establishing New Norms for Developmental Milestones
R Christopher Sheldrick1, Lauren E Schlichting2, Blythe Berger3
1Department of Health Law, Policy, and Management, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts; rshldrck@bu.edu.
Insights
New data on developmental milestones for young children were established. This resource aids clinicians in interpreting milestone attainment, offering greater specificity than current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Developmental Psychology
- Public Health
Background:
- Pediatric surveillance relies on assessing developmental milestones, but normative data are limited.
- Accurate milestone assessment is crucial for early identification of developmental delays.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop new normative data for common developmental milestones in young children.
- To enhance the clinical interpretation of milestone attainment.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 41,465 developmental screening responses from the Survey of Well-being of Young Children across three states.
- Comparison of normative data with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for milestone attainment.
Main Results:
- Established a contemporary resource of normative data for developmental milestone attainment.
- Identified associations between lower developmental status and factors including age, behavioral scores, social determinants of health, Medicaid status, sex, and race.
- Found that a high percentage of children meet milestones by ages recommended by the CDC for "most children pass" or "act early."
Conclusions:
- Detailed normative data can assist clinicians in guiding caregiver expectations for milestone attainment.
- The findings offer greater specificity to existing CDC developmental guidelines.
- An interactive tool is provided to aid clinicians in real-time developmental screening interpretation.
Background And Objectives:
Pediatric surveillance of young children depends on providers' assessment of developmental milestones, yet normative data are sparse. Our objectives were to develop new norms for common milestones to aid in clinical interpretation of milestone attainment.
Methods:
We analyzed responses to the developmental screening form of the Survey of Well-being of Young Children from 41 465 screens across 3 states. Associations between developmental status and a range of child characteristics were analyzed, and norms for individual questions were compared to guidelines regarding attainment of critical milestones from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Results:
A contemporary resource of normative data for developmental milestone attainment was established. Lower developmental status was associated with child age in the presence of positive behavioral screening scores (P < .01), social determinants of health (P < .01), Medicaid (P < .01), male sex (P < .01), and child race (P < .01). Comparisons between Survey of Well-being of Young Children developmental questions and CDC guidelines reveal that a high percentage of children are reported to pass milestones by the age at which the CDC states that "most children pass" and that an even higher percentage of children are reported to pass milestones by the age at which the CDC states that parents should "act early." An interactive data visualization tool that can assist clinicians in real-time developmental screening and surveillance interpretation is also provided.
Conclusions:
Detailed normative data on individual developmental milestones can help clinicians guide caregivers' expectations for milestone attainment, thereby offering greater specificity to CDC guidelines.
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