Denver Developmental Screening Test

Explanation of Screening

The Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST) was standardized and published in 1967 to assist medical providers in the detection of possible developmental problems in young children (Accardo & Accardo, 2017). Since its original publication, the DDST has been used worldwide by health providers in more than 50 million children (Frankenburg, Dodds, Archer, Shapiro, & Bresnick, 1992). As a result of such widespread use by multiple providers in different settings and populations, multiples concerns have been raised (Accardo & Accardo, 2017). Those concerns include the need for additional language items; the appropriateness of 1967 norms in the 1990s; the difficulty in administering and/or scoring some DDST items; the appropriateness of the test for various subgroups and the lack of test sensitivity in predicting latter status (Frankenburg, et al., 1992).

The aforementioned concerns led to the conclusion to reexamine the test, restandardize it, change its interpretation, create a new video with the purpose of training, and stress training and regular assessment of proficiency (Accardo & Accardo, 2017). A committee composed of the authors from the Denver Developmental Screening Test trainer from the Colorado Department of Health and a consultant speech pathologist were designated to examine the DDST items. In order to select items to include in the Denver II, the authors examined data from 336 possible items. They concluded that Denver II should consist of 125 tasks out of which 82 items were left unchanged from the original DDST. Each item was arranged on the test form in four domains of development: personal-social, fine motor-adaptive, language, and gross motor. Furthermore, instructions on how to administer and interpret each item were also created to address previous concerns (Frankenburg, et al., 1992).

The Denver II is not an intelligence quotient (IQ) test. The Denver II is a screening test intended to compare a given child’s performance with other children of the same age on a variety of heterogeneous skills (Burns, et al., 2017). The interpreter of the test must also consider the child’s background, family, community, educational experiences and culture (Frankenburg, et al., 1992).

References

Accardo, J., & Accardo, P. (2017). 50 Years Ago in The Journal of Pediatrics: The Denver 

Developmental Screening Test. The Journal of Pediatrics, 187, 104. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2017.02.045

Burns, C.E., Dunn, A.M., Brady, M.A., Starr, N.B., Blosser, C.G. & Garzon, D.L. (2017).

Pediatric Primary Care (6th ed.) St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.

Frankenburg, W. K., Dodds, J., Archer, P., Shapiro, H., & Bresnick, B. (1992). The Denver II: a 

major revision and restandardization of the Denver Developmental Screening Test. Pediatrics, (1), 91. Retrieved fromhttp://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/ login.aspx? direct=true&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.12030000&site=eds-live