title: Milestones of language development in Turkish children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Language delays are common in childhood, may be associated with delays in other areas of development, and can affect school performance. Various tests designed for general developmental screening or specifically for language are used to assess developmental status in preschool children. Knowledge of the probabilities of normal developmental milestones may simplify detection of problems and delays. The aim of this study was to determine the milestones of language development in Turkish children.
  
  
  METHODS
  We assessed data from application of the Denver II Developmental Screening Test's Turkish standardization to 1,993 children, 976 (49.0%) boys and 1,017 (51.0%) girls aged 0.6-82.0 months. We used binary logistic regression to analyze the predicted probability of accomplishing the language items on the Denver II Developmental Screening Test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We determined the sequence of assessed language items and the ages associated with accomplishing those items, as well as the ages at which 25, 50, 75, and 100% of children passed the items. Language items followed a sequential route. Graphs had polynomial slopes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Curves for normal development allow detection of aberrations in the predicted course of language development, and may facilitate earlier diagnosis of delays in language.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ear Nose and Throat Disease, Kirikkale University, Faculty of Medicine, Kirikkale, Turkey. nbayarmuluk@yahoo.com
authors.forename: N B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Muluk
authors.affiliation: Unit of Child Development, Hacettepe University Ihsan Doğramaci Children's Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bayoğlu
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Neurology, Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Konuşkan
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Neurology, Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Anlar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D015995:Prevalence; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult