Identifying at-risk children for early intervention services: Lessons from the infant health and development program

Russell S. Kirby, Mark E. Swanson, Kelly J. Kelleher, Robert H. Bradley, Patrick H. Casey

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

A U. S. law mandates early intervention services for infants and young children who have, or are at risk for, developmental problems. Participating states must develop definitions for identifying infants and young children at risk for developmental problems. To assess the sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value of some commonly identified risk factors, we examined the definitions proposed by five states. Data on risk factors and 36-month developmental outcomes were obtained from follow-up participants in the infant Health and Development Program, a multisite, collaborative prospective intervention program involving 985 low birth weight preterm infants. Few individual risk factors proposed by these states were associated with poor developmental outcomes. Characteristics with positive predictive values greater than 30% were highly specific but tended to involve few cases. Risk factors with positive predictive values greater than 50%, such as hypothyroidism, occurred infrequently (<6%) in this sample. When state definitions for at-risk children were examined in composite, each definition ylelded a positive predictive value of 25% to 35%, with poor specificities ranging from 12% to 40%. These data on low birth weight infants have implications for the design and funding of population-based early intervention programs, and suggest that more careful clinical and longitudinal research is necessary before appropriate definitions can be promulgated for ideniifying childre in need of early, intervention services.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)680-686
Number of pages7
JournalThe Journal of Pediatrics
Volume122
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1993
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Identifying at-risk children for early intervention services: Lessons from the infant health and development program'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this