Performance of the German version of the PARCA-R questionnaire as a developmental screening tool in two-year-old very...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric developmental assessment
• Psychometrics in child development
• Early childhood intervention

Background:

• The revised Parent Report of Children's Abilities questionnaire (PARCA-R) is a valuable tool for assessing child development.
• Validating translated versions of developmental assessments is crucial for broader clinical application.
• Early identification of developmental delays in preterm infants is critical for timely intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate and test a German version of the revised Parent Report of Children's Abilities questionnaire (PARCA-R).
• To assess the correlation between the German PARCA-R and standardized infant developmental assessments.
• To determine an optimal cut-off score for identifying mental delay using the PARCA-R.

Main Methods:

• A multicentre cross-sectional study involving 154 infants born before 32 weeks gestational age.
• Parents completed the German PARCA-R within three weeks of their child's two-year follow-up assessment.
• Infant cognitive development was assessed using the Mental Development Index (MDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, 2nd edition (BSID-II).
• Pearson correlation and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were used to evaluate validity and identify optimal cut-off scores.

Main Results:

• The German PARCA-R Parent Report Composite (PRC) scores showed a significant correlation with the MDI scores (R = 0.54, p < 0.0001).
• The optimal PRC cut-off score for identifying moderate-to-severe mental delay (MDI < 70) was determined to be 44.
• This cut-off achieved a sensitivity of 0.81 and a specificity of 0.81, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.840.

Conclusions:

• The German version of the PARCA-R demonstrates good validity when compared to the BSID-II.
• A PRC score below 44 is an optimal indicator for identifying mental delay in children at two years of corrected age.
• The validated German PARCA-R can be reliably used for early detection of developmental delays in preterm infants.