Applicability of the Denver Prescreening Developmental Questionnaire in a low-income population

A prospective study was conducted to assess the applicability of the Denver Prescreening Developmental Questionnaire (DPDQ) in a predominantly black, low-income population in Mobile, Alabama. The effect of an educational intervention designed to increase the accuracy of parental responses to the DPDQ was also assessed. In a longitudinal follow-up program, 127 infants aged 2 weeks to 1 year were recruited. Parents in a randomly selected experimental group observed an audio-visual presentation describing progressive developmental behaviors, received handout materials summarizing these behaviors, and were asked to record their child's subsequent attainment of these behaviors. Mean agreement scores, obtained by comparing parental responses to the DPDQ with the corresponding items of the Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST), did not differ between the experimental and control groups. These scores showed agreement of 93.6% (3-month visit), 91.3% (6-month visit), 91.6% (9-month visit), and 95.1% (12-month visit), resulting in an overall mean agreement score of 92.9%. The overreferral rate was low (13%) and no underreferrals were obtained. These results attest to the applicability of the DPDQ in low-income population and demonstrate the lack of effectiveness of the educational intervention in increasing the accuracy of parental responses to the DPDQ.