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Assessing development of urban Aboriginal infants
Author(s) -
Bennett Beverley,
McDonald Jenny,
Knight Jennifer,
Comino Elizabeth,
Henry Richard
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2010.01756.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cohort , mental health , child development , pediatrics , mental development , cohort study , prospective cohort study , demography , developmental psychology , psychiatry , psychology , surgery , pathology , sociology
Aims: To determine the appropriateness of using the Griffiths' Mental Developmental Scales (birth – 2 years) to assess development in a cohort of urban Aboriginal children at 12 months of age. Methods: The Gudaga study is a prospective longitudinal cohort study assessing the health, development and service use of urban Aboriginal infants residing in south west Sydney. All infants receive a full heath and development assessment (including the Griffiths' Mental Developmental Scales) when they are 12 months of age. This study analyses the results of the first 55 infants. Results: The distribution of the General Quotient for the first 55 Gudaga infants is normal with a mean of 98.5 (SD 10.5). There is no significant difference between the Gudaga cohort and the Griffiths' standardisation sample for locomotor, personal‐social, hearing and language, and eye and hand coordination sub‐quotient scores. Conclusion: The Griffiths' Mental Developmental Scales may be an appropriate tool to use for the assessment of development in urban Aboriginal infants.