Interactive Tool for Flexible Developmental Assessment in Youth Health Care

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Developmental Psychology
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Preventive Youth Health Care (YHC) requires adaptable, data-driven tools for personalized child development monitoring.
• The current Dutch Developmental Instrument (DDI) has limitations in flexibility and parental engagement due to fixed-age screening.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate the DDI-Continuous (DDI-C), a digital tool for individualized child development monitoring.
• To enhance adaptability and parental engagement in preventive YHC.

Main Methods:

• Developed DDI-C, a digital tool integrating developmental data.
• Computed percentile ages for 75 DDI milestones using D-score calibrations and Dutch reference curves.
• Created an interactive interface for milestone selection based on a child's developmental level.
• Iteratively refined the prototype through three pilot cycles (Plan-Do-Check-Act).

Main Results:

• Pilot evaluations demonstrated high usability, deeper clinical insights, and relevance.
• The DDI-C interface allows selection of age-appropriate milestones, focusing on individual development rather than solely on delay.
• The tool operationalizes developmental data into an accessible format.

Conclusions:

• DDI-C provides effective decision support for healthcare professionals in preventive YHC.
• The digital tool fosters more meaningful conversations with parents, leading to personalized and engaging care.
• DDI-C represents a significant advancement in individualized child development monitoring.