Research at Pathways Child Health Data Lab Parent's Survey
Objective: This study examines parental perceptions about early motor delays and the diagnostic process, as well as their general knowledge about infant milestones and response to concerns. The overarching purpose is to determine a level of parental knowledge and understand more fully how the early screening process can be improved. Methods: Surveys made up of 53 questions were fielded in two rounds: five Chicago pediatrician’s offices from July to September of 2002, and three additional pediatrician’s offices, two in Chicago and one in Oak Park, from June to August of 2004. Surveys were also fielded in the physical therapy department at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago in September of 2002 to increase the sample of parents whose children were positively diagnosed with movement delays. Results: The vast majority of parent would use their health care provider as the main source for information about their child. 39% of parents whose children were diagnosed with a motor delay were told to “wait and see” by their pediatrician regarding their concern in their infants development. 55% of parents surveyed reported that infants of three months or younger should be lifting up their heads and pushing up on their arms while on their tummy. About 15% of parents indicated that they would seek help if the child did not achieve the skill by three months; the remaining parents would wait longer to seek help, 20% waiting until the child reached six months of age or more. For milestones achieved in the first year of life, fewer than 50% of parents would seek help if their child did not achieve the milestone according to the Pathways guidelines. For milestones achieved later (12 months of age or later), about 70%-85% parents would seek help if the milestone was not met according to Pathways’ guidelines. Conclusions: This study suggests a number of avenues to improve the early detection of movement delays. Because parents regard pediatricians and physician specialists as the most reliable sources of information on movement delays, it is likely that parents would respond best to an early intervention program that involved their own physicians. Even though parents in this study would seek help from their pediatrician later than would be optimal, previous research indicates that parent reports are reliable and helpful indicators to pediatricians. Therefore, the key to a successful intervention seems to center around prompting parents to discuss their concerns with their pediatricians earlier than they would be inclined to do so.
This research was conducted at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago IL with the help of Jenifer Cartland, PhD Director and Suzanne Greene McLone, MPH Epidemiologist and the Child Health Data Labs in 2005. |
