Assessment of the reliability of a medical questionnaire for diagnosing the development of children 3–36 months
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Introduction. Existing tools for diagnosing neurodevelopmental disorders (questionnaires, surveys) either focus on specific developmental domains or are insufficiently adapted for mass screening of children aged 3–36 months, which creates an urgent need for a universal questionnaire. Aim. To evaluate the reliability and validity of the author’s questionnaire for identifying characteristics and deviations in the development of children aged 3–36 months. Materials and methods. A multicenter prospective validation study was conducted at medical and charitable institutions in the city of Ufa. Sample: 693 children aged 3–36 months, with a balanced distribution by gender and age. Data were collected using the author’s questionnaire. Descriptive statistics methods were used, along with Cronbach’s α calculation, ICC, Pearson correlation, the Mann–Whitney U test, factor analysis (principal component analysis), and ROC analysis. Results and discussion. The questionnaire demonstrated a high level of internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.87) and inter‑ rater reliability (ICC = 0.94; Pearson correlation r = 0.94); the difference in the responses of parents and doctors did not exceed 0.1 points. The questionnaire differentiates between groups of children: the mean score for children with typical development was 20.2 ± 3.2, and for those with disorders – 16.8 ± 4.1 (p < 0.0001, effect size r = 0.52). The diagnostic efficiency showed a high level: AUC = 0.88, sensitivity – 0.86, specificity – 0.82, NPV – 0.87; these indicators allow excluding significant disorders in the event of a negative result. The dynamics of the scores on the questionnaire correspond to age‑related patterns: the average score increases from 11.2 ± 2.4 (3 months) to 22.1 ± 1.8 (36 months); after 24 months, the rate slows down (+0.6–0.7). The average time to complete the questionnaire is 5–10 minutes (parent) and 15–20 minutes (doctor); the refusal rate is less than 2%. Conclusions. The questionnaire complies with international standards for psychometric characteristics, allows for the differentiation of children with typical and atypical development, and is suitable for screening in various settings by healthcare professionals and parents.
DOI: 10.21518/ms2026-390
Institution: Bashkir State Medical University
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7215056352