Resumo

RIVERA GONZALEZ, Rolando et al. Age of presentation of Denver Test items in the first 4 year of life of children from Morelos, Mexico. Salud Ment [online]. 2013, vol.36, n.6, pp.459-470. ISSN 0185-3325.

The Denver Developmental Screening Test (Denver II) is the most used internationally tool for child development surveillance, from which assessments and changes have been made in several countries, from the estimate of the age of presentation of the items, because it constitutes the basis of its structure and validity. Objective To identify the age and sequences acquiring of each item of the Denver-II test during the first four years of life in children of low socioeconomic status from a community of Morelos State, Mexico. Method 2350 assessments were conducted to children from 0 to 48 months of age. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the age of presentation of each item to the centiles 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th. Differences were established with values of reference based on confidence intervals up to 95% for 90th centile. Results Of the 98 items evaluated, 42 were submitted delayed, 23 showed no statistical difference and 33 were acquired in earlier age in children of Morelos. In the Gross Motor and Personal-social areas predominated the delayed with 19/25 and 11/21 items, respectively. By contrast, in Fine Motor-Adaptive and Language predominated the advances, with 11/22 and 16/30 items. Conclusions There are differences in the age and sequence of presentation of the items of the Denver-II test in the population studied. Adjustments are recommended before implementing its use in specific socio-cultural contexts.

Palavras-chave : Child development; DSST-II; Denver II Test; developmental screening; psychometrics.