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Methods used by general practitioners in developmental screening of preschool children
Insights
General practitioners adequately performed physical exams but neglected developmental screening for preschoolers. Health visitors can aid in developmental screening, improving early identification of potential handicaps.
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Preventive Medicine
- General Practice
Background:
- Developmental screening examinations are crucial for preschool children's early identification of potential handicaps.
- Current practices in general practice may not adequately address comprehensive developmental screening.
- Conflicting demands on general practitioners' time and doubts about test value impact screening thoroughness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the methods used by general practitioners in performing developmental screening examinations for preschool children.
- To assess the extent of developmental testing performed alongside routine physical examinations.
- To explore the role of health visitors in developmental screening and identify areas for improved training and participation.
Main Methods:
- A study involving 20 general practitioners examining 348 preschool children.
- Data collected on examinations performed by doctors, health visitors, or both.
- Analysis of screening methods, including physical examinations and specific developmental tests for hearing, vision, and language.
Main Results:
- Routine physical examinations were adequately performed, but developmental screening tests were often omitted or inadequately addressed.
- Health visitors demonstrated significant participation, suggesting their potential role in developmental screening.
- Omissions in testing hearing, vision, and language were attributed to time constraints and perceived lack of value for certain tests.
Conclusions:
- Developmental screening in general practice requires scrutiny of methods used by both doctors and health visitors.
- Health visitors are valuable contributors to child care and should receive training for enhanced developmental screening roles.
- Improved screening methods are essential to prevent children from entering school with identifiable hearing, visual, and speech handicaps.
Abstract:
A study of the methods used by 20 general practitioners to perform developmental screening examinations of preschool children showed that routine physical examination was adequately performed but at the expense of additional tests of child development. A total of 348 children were examined by either a doctor (144 cases) or a health visitor (90), or both (114). The degree of participation by health visitors suggests that developmental screening need not necessarily be the sole responsibility of doctors, and health visitors should have training opportunities as they have an important contribution to make in this area of child care. Some omissions in testing hearing, vision, and language were clearly due to conflicting demands on the general practitioners' time, but some tests were not performed because the doctors doubted their value. Nevertheless, too many children still enter school with hearing, visual, and speech handicaps that could have been easily identified. If preventive medicine is to become an increasing component of general practice, the methods used by doctors and health visitors must be scrutinised before attempting to evaluate the outcome of large-scale screening programmes.