An Update on Assessing Development in the Pediatric Office: Has Anything Changed After Two Policy Statements?

Objective m of this study was to examine parental reports of receiving a child developmental assessment (DA), and the child, family, and type of health care setting characteristics and well-child care processes associated with receiving this aspect of preventive developmental care. s 07 National Survey of Children’s Health was used to study 16 223 children, aged 10 months to 4 years, who received a DA with a structured questionnaire from their primary care provider in the previous 12 months. Data were adjusted for child characteristics, family socioeconomic factors, type of health care setting, and processes of care. s ildren were assessed for developmental delays by using developmental questionnaires (28%). A greater percentage of parents of children with public insurance reported receiving a developmental questionnaire compared with parents of children who were uninsured or privately insured (32% vs 26% and 25%, respectively; P = .02). The adjusted odds of receiving a developmental questionnaire were higher for children with public insurance than private insurance (odds ratio [OR] 1.35, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05–1.73), higher for children whose usual place of care was a clinic or health center than a doctor’s office (OR 1.36, 95% CI, 1.07–1.74), and higher for children reporting adequate family-centered care (OR 1.41, 95% CI, 1.14–1.74). sions al receipt of developmental questionnaires is low and varies by type of insurance, type of place for usual source of care, and adequacy of family-centered care. There is room for improvement in the provision of developmental questionnaires and, our results suggest, areas for continuing research to understand variations in DA practices.