Clinical validation of the nursing diagnosis "Risk for delayed child development".
Nádia Proença de Melo, Juliana Martins de Souza, Samara Macedo Cordeiro and 1 others
PMID 36541418WHAT IT FOUND
Most proposed risk factors for delayed child development did not reliably identify children missing milestones.
Only genetic disorders, congenital disorders, and impaired cognitive development of parents were linked to missing milestones.
Key findings
01Most analyzed risk factors were not associated with the absence of developmental milestones.
02Genetic disorders, congenital disorders, and impaired cognitive development of parents were linked to missing milestones.
03Sensitivity was below 30.0% for almost all risk factors; congenital disorders had the highest sensitivity at 48.0%.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used a single-moment cross-sectional evaluation, so it could not show how risk factors predict development over time. The child health booklet was used as the reference, but the paper notes that a true gold standard for comparison was absent. Some risk factors were rare in the sample, so accuracy estimates for those factors rest on small numbers. The study was done in two Brazilian settings, so it may not apply to other populations. Information came partly from parents or caregivers, and children or caregivers without information about pregnancy, delivery, or childcare were excluded.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat the 22 proposed risk factors as a validated predictor of delayed child development. Most were not associated with missing milestones, and only genetic disorders, congenital disorders, and impaired cognitive development of parents showed clear links.