The Pediatric Early Elementary Examination: sensitivity and specificity.
Evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the Pediatric Early Elementary Examination (PEEX), a test designed to identify children at risk for learning problems. Using a sample of 299 seven- to nine-year-old "disadvantaged" children, the number of "areas of concern" identified by the PEEX and a school record indicating whether a child was receiving special educational services were used to compute test sensitivity and specificity. For two areas of concern, the sensitivity was 76.9% and specificity was 59.9%. The findings indicate that the PEEX correctly identified only 64.3% of children receiving special educational services. The test has a high rate of false positives while still failing to identify 6-7.5% of the children receiving special education services. Other issues relating to the utility of the PEEX are discussed.
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore 21201.
T
T
Kenny
G
G
Gaes
W
W
Saylor
L
L
Grossman
M
M
Kappelman
R
R
Chernoff
S
S
Toler
L
L
Majer
D002648:Child; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011610:Psychosocial Deprivation; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012307:Risk Factors