Publication

Abstract : Objective To socio-culturally adapt and validate a Hindi language version of Ages and Stages Qustionnaire (ASQ-3) in Indian children aged 2–24 months. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary-care center between March, 2017 and April, 2019, children “at-risk” for developmental delay of either gender aged 2–24 months. Socio-cultural adaptation was done through interaction among 37 subject experts followed by validation. [After piloting in 20 children, modified ASQ-3 was validated in 568 at-risk children (4 age-groups: 2–7, 7–13, 13–19 and 19–24 months). Validation was done against Development Assessment Scale for Indian Infants (DASII). Results After screening 654 children, 568 were enrolled. Among these, 420 had developmental delay on DASII while 18 failed to be identified on ASQ-3 (4.3%). Overall sensitivity and specificity of Hindi language Indian-adaptation of ASQ-3 in detecting developmental delay were 95.9% (95%CI: 93.6%–97.5%) and 81.7% (95%CI: 74%–87.9%), respectively with a positive predictive value (PPV) of 94.6% (95%CI: 92%–96.5%) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 85.6% (95%CI: 78.2%–92.2%). The sensitivity and specificity for motor delay were 96.1% (93.8%–97.7%) and 92.4% (86.4%–96.3%) [PPV: 97.7% (95.8%–98.9%); NPV: 87.7% (81%–92.7%)]. Sensitivity and specificity for mental delay were 95.5% (93.1%–97.2%) and 95.3% (90.1%–98.3%) [PPV: 98.6% (97%–99.5%); NPV: 85.9% (79.1%–91.2%)]. Conclusion The Hindi language Indian-adaptation of ASQ-3 had good psychometric properties with high sensitivity for developmental delay (95.9%), mental delay (95.5%), and motor delay (96.1%), suggesting it to be a good screening tool for neurodevelopmental delay.