title: Assessment of child psychomotor development in population groups as a positive health indicator.
abstract: It is necessary to use health indicators describing the conditions of all individuals in a population, not just of those who have a disease or die.
  
  
  
  To introduce a method to collect population indicators of psychomotor development in children younger than 6 years old and show its results.
  
  
  
  Data were obtained from a cross-sectional assessment regarding compliance with 13 developmental milestones (selected from the national reference) conducted in 5465 children using five surveys administered by the Matanza-Riachuelo River Basin Authority in areas of this basin where a high proportion of families with unmet basic needs live. For each survey, a logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the median age at attainment of the 13 developmental milestones. A linear regression model between the estimated age at attainment of the 13 milestones was adjusted for each survey based on the corresponding age at attainment of the national reference. Based on this model, three indicators were defined: overall developmental quotient, developmental quotient at 4 years old, and developmental trend.
  
  
  
  Results from the five surveys ranged between 0.74 and 0.85, 0.88 and 0.81, and -0.15 and -0.26 for the overall developmental quotient, developmental quotient at 4 years old, and developmental trend, respectively. A distinct developmental delay and an increasing trend in delay with age were observed.
  
  
  
  Indicators are easily interpreted and related to social indicators (unmet basic needs, etc.). Collecting the information necessary to make estimations takes little time and can be applied to population groups, but not on an individual level.
authors.affiliation: Dirección General de Salud Ambiental (DGSA), Cuenca Matanza Riachuelo (ACUMAR), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina. cursotesis07@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Horacio
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lejarraga
authors.affiliation: Dirección General de Salud Ambiental (DGSA), Cuenca Matanza Riachuelo (ACUMAR), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.|Instituto de Cálculo, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Diana M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Kelmansky
authors.affiliation: Dirección General de Salud Ambiental (DGSA), Cuenca Matanza Riachuelo (ACUMAR), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: María C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Passcucci
authors.affiliation: Dirección General de Salud Ambiental (DGSA), Cuenca Matanza Riachuelo (ACUMAR), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Masautis
authors.affiliation: Dirección General de Salud Ambiental (DGSA), Cuenca Matanza Riachuelo (ACUMAR), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Iván
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Insua
authors.affiliation: Dirección General de Salud Ambiental (DGSA), Cuenca Matanza Riachuelo (ACUMAR), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Celina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lejarraga
authors.affiliation: Plan Sanitario de Emergencia, Autoridad de Cuenca Matanza Riachuelo (ACUMAR), C1035ABE, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nunes
mesh_terms: D001118:Argentina; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D000067576:Child Health; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D002658:Developmental Disabilities; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009048:Motor Skills; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Growth and development; Health indicators; Public health; Socioeconomic factors