TY - JOUR
T1 - The INTERGROWTH-21st project neurodevelopment package
T2 - A novel method for the multi-dimensional assessment of neurodevelopment in pre-school age children
AU - International Fetal and Newborn Growth Consortium for the 21 Century (INTERGROWTH-21)
AU - Fernandes, Michelle
AU - Stein, Alan
AU - Newton, Charles R.
AU - Cheikh-Ismail, Leila
AU - Kihara, Michael
AU - Wulff, Katharina
AU - De Quintana, Enrique León
AU - Aranzeta, Luis
AU - Soria-Frisch, Aureli
AU - Acedo, Javier
AU - Ibanez, David
AU - Abubakar, Amina
AU - Giuliani, Francesca
AU - Lewis, Tamsin
AU - Kennedy, Stephen
AU - Villar, Jose
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to Kenny McCormick, Georg Hollander, Peter Sullivan, Rebeccah Slater, Stuart Peirson, Morten Kringelbach, Russell Foster, Michelle de Haan, Carol Hogue, Naila Khan, Elizabeth Murray, Aaron Martinez, Stephen Dunne and Guillem Mitjà for their intellectual and technical contribution to the Package. The authors wish to thank all the mothers and children who kindly took part in the INTERGROWTH-21 Project, as well as the Health Authorities in Pelotas, Brazil; Nagpur, India; Turin, Italy; Nairobi, Kenya and Oxford, UK, who facilitated this component of the project by allowing these study sites to participate as collaborating centers. This project was supported by a generous grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the University of Oxford, for which we are very grateful. st
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Fernandes et al.
PY - 2014/11/25
Y1 - 2014/11/25
N2 - Background: The International Fetal and Newborn Growth Consortium for the 21st Century (INTERGROWTH-21st) Project is a population-based, longitudinal study describing early growth and development in an optimally healthy cohort of 4607 mothers and newborns. At 24 months, children are assessed for neurodevelopmental outcomes with the INTERGROWTH-21st Neurodevelopment Package. This paper describes neurodevelopment tools for preschoolers and the systematic approach leading to the development of the Package. Methods: An advisory panel shortlisted project-specific criteria (such as multidimensional assessments and suitability for international populations) to be fulfilled by a neurodevelopment instrument. A literature review of well-established tools for preschoolers revealed 47 candidates, none of which fulfilled all the project's criteria. A multi-dimensional assessment was, therefore, compiled using a package-based approach by: (i) categorizing desired outcomes into domains, (ii) devising domain-specific criteria for tool selection, and (iii) selecting the most appropriate measure for each domain. Results: The Package measures vision (Cardiff tests); cortical auditory processing (auditory evoked potentials to a novelty oddball paradigm); and cognition, language skills, behavior, motor skills and attention (the INTERGROWTH-21st Neurodevelopment Assessment) in 35-45 minutes. Sleep-wake patterns (actigraphy) are also assessed. Tablet-based applications with integrated quality checks and automated, wireless electroencephalography make the Package easy to administer in the field by non-specialist staff. The Package is in use in Brazil, India, Italy, Kenya and the United Kingdom. Conclusions: The INTERGROWTH-21st Neurodevelopment Package is a multidimensional instrument measuring early child development (ECD). Its developmental approach may be useful to those involved in large-scale ECD research and surveillance efforts.
AB - Background: The International Fetal and Newborn Growth Consortium for the 21st Century (INTERGROWTH-21st) Project is a population-based, longitudinal study describing early growth and development in an optimally healthy cohort of 4607 mothers and newborns. At 24 months, children are assessed for neurodevelopmental outcomes with the INTERGROWTH-21st Neurodevelopment Package. This paper describes neurodevelopment tools for preschoolers and the systematic approach leading to the development of the Package. Methods: An advisory panel shortlisted project-specific criteria (such as multidimensional assessments and suitability for international populations) to be fulfilled by a neurodevelopment instrument. A literature review of well-established tools for preschoolers revealed 47 candidates, none of which fulfilled all the project's criteria. A multi-dimensional assessment was, therefore, compiled using a package-based approach by: (i) categorizing desired outcomes into domains, (ii) devising domain-specific criteria for tool selection, and (iii) selecting the most appropriate measure for each domain. Results: The Package measures vision (Cardiff tests); cortical auditory processing (auditory evoked potentials to a novelty oddball paradigm); and cognition, language skills, behavior, motor skills and attention (the INTERGROWTH-21st Neurodevelopment Assessment) in 35-45 minutes. Sleep-wake patterns (actigraphy) are also assessed. Tablet-based applications with integrated quality checks and automated, wireless electroencephalography make the Package easy to administer in the field by non-specialist staff. The Package is in use in Brazil, India, Italy, Kenya and the United Kingdom. Conclusions: The INTERGROWTH-21st Neurodevelopment Package is a multidimensional instrument measuring early child development (ECD). Its developmental approach may be useful to those involved in large-scale ECD research and surveillance efforts.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84913594724&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0113360
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0113360
M3 - Article
C2 - 25423589
AN - SCOPUS:84913594724
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 9
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 11
M1 - e113360
ER -