Parents' Concerns Are Associated with Early Intervention Evaluation and Eligibility Outcomes.
Mohadeseh Solgi, Alicia Feryn, Alison E Chavez and 5 others
PMID 35703857WHAT IT FOUND
Parents’ concerns were tied to children being evaluated and found eligible for early intervention, but not to receiving services six months later.
Only 22.9% of referrals reached services.
Key findings
01Of 428 children referred to early intervention, 238 were evaluated, 123 were found eligible, and 98 were enrolled in services six months after referral.
02Parental concern at referral was associated with early intervention evaluation and eligibility, but not with service enrollment six months later.
03The most frequent parental concern was about the child talking or making speech sounds (54.4%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Parents had to opt in, so more concerned parents may have participated and less concerned parents may have missed. Only 62% answered the concern question. The concern analysis included 265 children. The enrollment outcome was small: 98 children, 22.9% of referrals. The study used Oregon primary care clinics in an intervention setting, so results may not apply to other states or referral sources. No direct socio-economic measures were collected, only insurance type and parental education. Parent concern was measured at referral and was not assessed as an indicator of developmental risk. Some adjusted site effects had large confidence intervals and were imprecise.
Declared interests
No author conflict-of-interest declaration is included in the article text. The supplied publication types list NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read parental concern as a way to decide early intervention referral or eligibility. It was associated with evaluation and eligibility, but not with enrollment, and the authors state it should not be used clinically to make EI referral decisions.