Research

Background

In April 2006, the Chicago-based marketing consulting firm Hyde Park Group fielded an internet survey on behalf of Pathways Awareness. The objectives for this research were to 1) enhance the Children's Memorial Hospital (CMH) survey findings on parent awareness from 2002-2004 with a nationally based sample; 2) evaluate condition names; 3) gauge awareness of various forms of therapy, and 4) evaluate methods of communicating and reaching parents concerned about their children.

Methodology

Hyde Park Group modeled the questions on critical milestones after the CMH survey, using the exact wording and drawings fielded in the earlier survey. The survey was sent to a national sample 423 adults, reflecting the demographic balance of parents with at least one child less than 36 months old. Survey demographics were balanced to reflect gender, income, ethnicity, age, and the geography of this population. All results reported are significant at the 95% confidence level.

Next Steps

Hyde Park Group prepared a full and in-depth PowerPoint presentation and Pathways has integrated these key findings into its public relations outreach materials.

Results

Parental Awareness of Milestones and Intent to Act If Milestones Missed

Overall, we see a similar pattern with this national survey to what was observed in the Children’s Memorial Hospital sample, with parental awareness of the earliest milestones considerably lower than of the later milestones.

Likewise, in both surveys, considerably fewer parents indicated they would report a concern regarding the earliest milestones immediately compared to the later milestones.

These findings suggest, whether because of new parent “overload” or because of a societally and clinically-based “wait and see” attitude, parents are behind the curve in monitoring early infant development.

The national survey actually provides an even more concerning picture of this lag than the CMH findings, supporting peer review suggestions that the CMH study was somewhat predisposed to a population already focused on developmental concerns (sampling in the clinical setting, and oversampling a previously diagnosed population).

3 Month Milestones

• Little more than one-third (36%) of parents were aware a child should be able to lift its head and push up by three months. The average age cited was 5.06 months.
• Only 5% would take action by three months if a child did not meet that milestone. One third of respondents would wait to take action until six months of age, the average being 6.79 months.

Demographic Observations

Parents with some college education were significantly more likely to take action by three months than those with high school or less.

Men responded that they would wait till an average age of 7.16 months, significantly longer than women.

Respondents 45 years and older also would wait to an average of 7.59 months, significantly longer than the 18 to 34 group.

6 Month Milestones

• Slightly more than half of parents (55%) accurately recognized the six-month milestone. The average age cited was 6.79 months.
• 15% of parents said they would take action at six months if a child did not meet the milestone. The average response was 9.02 months.

Demographic Observations

Caucasians were significantly more likely than Hispanic respondents to know this skill should be achieved by six months of age (39% vs. 24%).

Respondents over 45 years of age gave a significantly higher average expected age (7.44 months) than those 18 to 34 (6.67 months).

Women were significantly more likely than men to report a problem by 7 or 8 months of age (17% vs. 6% at 7 months, 24% vs. 13% at 8 months).

Respondents with high school or less education were significantly more likely than those with college or post-doctoral experience to wait until 11 months to report a concern (12% vs. 2%).

Men would wait significantly longer than women to report a problem (mean 9.42 months vs. 8.73 months). Likewise, Caucasians would wait significantly longer than African Americans (9.21 months vs. 8.14 months).

9 Month Milestones

• 78% of parents were aware of the nine-month milestone, with the average response actually coming in early at 8.22 months.
• 43% of parents would report a concern by nine months. The average age by which parents would take action if a child failed to meet this milestone was 10.28 months.

Demographic Observations

Respondents 18 to 34 years of age were most aggressive, expecting children to meet the milestone by 7 months significantly more than the older groups (25% vs. 13% and 12% respectively).

Similarly, white respondents were significantly more likely to answer 7 months than African Americans or Hispanics (24% vs. 10% and 13% respectively).

Men were significantly more likely to answer 12 months than women (6% vs. 1%).

Respondents with some college experience were significantly more likely to answer correctly (9 months) than those with high school or less (17% vs. 7%).

On average, respondents 45 years and older answered 9.08 months, a significantly later expectation than those 18 to 34 (mean 8.01 months).

Women were significantly more likely to report a problem at 9 months than men (20% vs. 9%).

12 Month Milestones

• 91% of parents were aware of the 12-month milestone, with the average response again coming in a bit early at 10.18 months.
• 50% of parents would take action by twelve months if a child did not meet this milestone, the average age of action being 12.66 months.

Demographic Observations

Respondents between 35 and 44 were significantly more likely to correctly answer 12 months than their younger and older counterparts (26% vs. 13% and 18% respectively).

15 Month Milestones

• 90% of parents were aware of the 15-month milestone, with an average ahead of the curve at 12.89 months.
• 51% of parents would take action at 15 months, with the average at 16.2 months.

Demographic Observations

Women were significantly more likely than men to take action at 15 months (24% vs. 12%), and men were significantly more likely to wait more than 20 months before reporting a concern (13% v. 5%).

Parental Awareness of Therapies

• Parents responding indicated relatively high levels of familiarity with speech (81% very or somewhat familiar), occupational (55%), and physical (91%) therapies.

Speech Therapy

• Parents with post-doctoral educational experience were significantly more likely to be aware of speech therapy than parents with high school education or less (90% vs. 72%).
• Parents with high school or less education were significantly less likely to be familiar with speech therapy than their more educated counterparts (28% responded not sure or not at all vs. 18% among 18-34 year olds and 10% among post-doctoral parents).
• Likewise, post-doctoral parents were significantly more likely to be very or somewhat familiar.

Occupational Therapy

• Both post-doctoral and masters-level educated parents were significantly more familiar with occupational therapy (76% and 56%) compared to high school or less (35%).
• Parents who were between the ages of 35 and 44, who were married, and who had college or post-doctoral experience were significantly more likely than their counterparts to be very or somewhat familiar with occupational therapy.

Physical Therapy

• The same significant difference held true with physical therapy (98% and 91% vs. 86%).
• A surprisingly high 19% of parents answered that infants can benefit from physical therapy at birth. Responses were spread across the age options provided otherwise, with spikes at 6 months (12%) and 1 year (13%), and 17% responding “any age.”
• Similar educational biases (higher education correlating to higher awareness) were true, but less markedly, for physical therapy as were seen for speech and occupational therapies.

Condition Name Preferences

• When asked to rate the relative fit of various phrases for the range of symptoms Pathways addresses, parents showed strong preference for the term “early motor delays,” secondarily choosing “infant movement delays.”
• Significantly more parents responded that early motor delays was a good to excellent fit than for any of the other names offered.
• Significantly more parents respondend positively to infant movement delays, slow physical development, and neuro muscular delays compared to movement differences, low muscle tone, and atypical physical development.

Demographic Observations

• Women appeared to respond more favorably to early motor delays, choosing excellent to good fit significantly more than men (84% vs. 70%).
• Women were significantly more likely to label movement differences as a somewhat bad fit than men (41% vs. 30%).
• Parents with college or post-doctoral experience were significantly more likely to label movement differences as a somewhat to bad fit than those with high school or less education (57% and 60% vs. 38%).
• Parents with some college experience were significantly more likely to label infant movement delays a bad fit compare to high school and post-doctoral respondents (23% vs. 11% and 21%).
• Parents with some college experience were significantly more in favor of slow physical development than those with post-doctoral education (46% saying excellent to good fit vs. 29%).
• Divorced or single parents were significantly more in favor of slow physical development than those who were married (58% saying excellent to good fit vs. 39%), and likewise, married parents were significantly less enamored with the term (30% vs. 16% saying somewhat bad to bad fit).
• Significantly more respondents with college or post-doctoral education responded positively to neuro muscular delays.
• The two younger groups of respondents (18 to 34 years old and 35 to 44 years old) were significantly less favorable toward low muscle tone (22% and 32% saying somewhat bad fit vs. 7%).
• Female respondents and married respondents were significantly less favorable toward atypical physical development.

Where Would Parents Turn?

• When asked how likely they would be to seek information or help from various sources, 79% said they would be very likely to call their pediatrician or family practitioner, and 68% said they would be very likely to look it up online.
• 53% also said they would be very likely to ask their childcare provider.
• When asked which among the multiple choices they were most likely to do, 44% chose calling a pediatrician or family practitioner, and 25% chose looking information up online.

Demographic Observations

• Women were significantly more likely than men to ask a friend or fellow mother (54% vs. 37%) or ask a family member (53% vs. 40%).
• Younger respondents (18 to 34 years old) were significantly more likely than those 35 to 44 years old to ask a friend or fellow mother (54% vs. 28%), look it up in print (48% vs. 30%), or ask a family member (53% vs. 31%).
• African Americans were significantly more likely than Caucasians or Hispanics to call a pediatrician or family practitioner (95% vs. 77% and 79% respectively) or ask a nurse or other non-physician (70% vs. 42% and 38%). Likewise, African Americans were significantly more likely than Caucasians to schedule an appointment with a physician specialist (70% vs. 42%).
• Single parents were significantly more likely to ask a friend or fellow mother (64% vs. 43%).
• Parents with high school or less education were significantly more likely than those with college or post-doctoral experience to schedule an appointment with a specialist (61% v. 46% and 36% respectively) and to ask their child care provider (72% vs. 50% and 43%).