title: Developmental assessment of preterm infants at 2 years: validity of parent reports.
abstract: Parental questionnaires are inexpensive alternatives to standardized testing for outcome measurement. The Parent Report of Children's Abilities has previously been revised (PARCA-R) and validated for use with very-preterm infants at 2 years of age. This study revalidated the PARCA-R for assessing cognition in a larger and more inclusive sample of preterm infants. One hundred and sixty-four children (82 males, 82 females) of <32 weeks' gestation (median 29wks, interquartile range [IQR] 28-30wks); and median birthweight 1200g (IQR 925-1463g) were evaluated using the Mental Development Index (MDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development - 2nd edition (BSID-II) at 2 years' corrected age. Parents completed the PARCA-R questionnaire. Significant correlations between PARCA-R Parent Report Composite (PRC) scores and MDI scores (r=0.77, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.69-0.82, p<0.01) demonstrated concurrent validity. A receiver operating characteristic-determined PRC cut-off of <44 had optimal discriminatory power (area under curve 0.92) for identifying MDI <70, with 85% sensitivity (95% CI 0.58-0.96), 87% specificity (95% CI 0.81-0.92), 98% negative predictive value (95% CI 0.95-1), and 37% positive predictive value (95% CI 0.22-0.54). The PARCA-R has good concurrent validity and diagnostic utility for identifying cognitive delay in very-preterm infants at 2 years of age. It is useful for outcome measurement, developmental screening, and facilitating parental involvement at follow-up.
authors.affiliation: School of Human Development, University of Norttingham, Nottingham, UK. sam.johnson@nottingham.ac.uk
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wolke
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marlow
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires