Home visiting to families with a newborn child.
OBJECTIVE
To validate child health clinic nurses' observations at the first visit to families having a newborn baby.


METHODS
The nurses' observations were compared with results from a prenatal assessment of the home conditions and with observations made by a psychologist at a home visit about one year later.


METHODS
A newbuilt suburb of Stockholm.


METHODS
373 families with a newborn.


METHODS
Distribution of observations in subgroups, maximum likelihood, positive predictive value.


RESULTS
A significant relationship between the nurses' observations, the prenatal assessment, and the psychologist's evaluation of the home situation was found. Children from homes assessed as "at risk" by the nurses also had lower quotients at Griffiths' test one year later.


CONCLUSIONS
Already during the child's neonatal period, the nurses make valid observations that are useful in selecting children at risk of subsequent developmental problems.
Department of Pediatrics, St. Göran's Hospital, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Aurelius
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Nordberg
D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003152:Community Health Nursing; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015588:Observer Variation; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D002666:Psychology, Child; D011593:Psychology, Social; D012931:Social Environment; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013383:Suburban Population; D013548:Sweden