title: Parental questionnaire as a screening instrument for motor function at age five.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  No standardised method is used to determine motor function in children in general practice in Denmark. Our aim was to evaluate the correlation between a parental questionnaire assessing motor function at the age of five years and the clinical test Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC), and to assess whether one or more questions could be used to screen for motor problems at the age of five years.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was based on a parental questionnaire containing ten questions. The M-ABC was used as the gold standard. n = 755 children. The Mann-Whitney rank sum test, Pearson's χ(2)-test, logistic regression analyses and sensitivity and specificity were used to assess the correlation between the questionnaire and the M-ABC test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The best screening tool was six questions in combination: sensitivity 39.8%, specificity 87.1%. Asking if a health professional ever expressed concern about the childs motor development had a sensitivity of 17.0% and a specificity of 93.9%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A parental questionnaire used as a screening instrument to identify children with motor problems has a reasonable specificity, but a low sensitivity. The six questions can be used to identify children who do not have motor function difficulties with a relatively high certainty, and it can fairly well identify children with motor function problems.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  This study was primarily supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Additional support was obtained from The Danish Health and Medicines Authority, the Lundbeck Foundation, Ludvig & Daara Elsass Foundation, the Augustinus Foundation, and Aase & Ejnar Danielsens Foundation. The Danish National Research Foundation has established the Danish Epidemiology Science Centre that initiated and created the Danish National Birth Cohort. The cohort is furthermore a result of a major grant from this Foundation. Additional support for the Danish National Birth Cohort is obtained from the Pharmacy Foundation, the Egmont Foundation, the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, the Augustinus Foundation and the Health Foundation.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Approved by the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) Board of Directors, the DNBC Steering Committee, the Regional Ethics Committee, the Danish Data Protection Agency and the CDC Institutional Review Board.
authors.affiliation: Ortopædkirurgi, Kirurgisk Børneafsnit, Aarhus Universitetshospital, Nørrebrogade 44, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. kirstennordbye@clin.au.dk.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nordbye-Nielsen
authors.forename: Ulrik Schiøler
authors.initials: US
authors.lastname: Kesmodel
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003718:Denmark; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity; D009048:Motor Skills; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010290:Parents; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires