Diagnostic Accuracy of Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS), PEDS Developmental Milestones, and PEDS Combined in Indian Children Aged Less than 2 Years

To assess the diagnostic accuracy of Parent’s Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS), PEDS Developmental Milestones (PEDS:DM) and PEDS Combined for developmental screening of Indian children aged less than 2 y. A hospital-based study of diagnostic accuracy was conducted over 17 mo. Children under 24 mo (n = 180) were enrolled after exclusion of severe illnesses or known neurodevelopment disorders. The index tools included standardized Hindi translations of PEDS and PEDS:DM. The reference tool was Developmental Assessment Scale for Indian Infants (DASII). Both were administered by blinded researchers. Parameters of diagnostic accuracy were computed. There were 13 (7.2%) failures in PEDS, 119 (66.1%) in PEDS:DM and 119 (66.1%) in PEDS Combined. DASII identified 3 children with developmental delay. Sensitivity (Sn) [95% CI] of PEDS was 33.3 [0.8–90.6] and Specificity (Sp) 93.2 [88.5–96.5]. The Sn and Sp of both PEDS:DM and PEDS Combined were 100 [29.2–100] and 34.5 [27.5–42.0], respectively. Hindi translations of PEDS, PEDS:DM and PEDS Combined are not suitable for developmental screening of children less than 2 y due to suboptimal diagnostic accuracy.