Developmental Screening With Spanish-Speaking Families in a Primary Care Setting

Cultural beliefs may influence parents’ willingness to raise concerns on a developmental screener. Our study evaluated the performance of the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) in an urban community health center where 75% of families are Spanish speaking. Our primary outcome was the presence of parent-reported concerns either in the medical record or on the PEDS before the PEDS was introduced compared with after it became routine care (post-PEDS). Covariates included family language and child age, gender, and risk status. The adjusted odds of a concern being identified was 1.5 times greater in the post-PEDS period for Developmental concerns and 2.1 times greater for Behavioral concerns. There was no association with family language indicating that the PEDS performs equally well for English- and Spanish-speaking families. The systematic inclusion of developmental screening as part of culturally competent primary care may aid in reducing current disparities in the identification of developmental concerns.