Pediatricians’ Use of Developmental Screeners to Identify Communication Delays: Trends Across the United States

Abstract

A majority of children are seen in the healthcare setting in the first 5 years of life, specifically for well-child visits, but only a fraction of children with communication delays are identified before school age. Even less receive early intervention (EI) services before three years of age. In recent years the American Academy of Pediatrics proposed recommendations that pediatricians implement formal screening measures at certain well-child visits to increase early identification of developmental delays, including communication delays, and Autism Spectrum Disorder. The current literature does not explicitly address how communication delays are identified. Thus, it is important to capture how communication delay, in particular, is being identified in the developmental screening practices. The overall goal of this project is to better understand early identification and referrals for services by pediatricians in the birth to three populations generally and specifically as it relates to communication delays and disorders. An online survey was administered to pediatricians (N=52) to explore multiple topics that influence screening. This survey gathered data to better understand the four areas: (1) pediatricians knowledge of screening, (2) how they are currently screening in the field (3) barriers they face when screening, and (4) how they are referring after a positive screening result. It was found that pediatricians feel confident in screening but feel that they could use more education. Most pediatricians are screening using ASQ and a majority of pediatricians screen at 18-months of age. This study will guide future research on implementing protocols that will engage pediatricians in screening practices and address consistent screening practices. Furthermore, this study will aid in enhancing screening procedures to increase EI referrals to help promote school-readiness in children with communication delays or disorders.