Population-Level Data on Child Development at School Entry Reflecting Social Determinants of Health: A Narrative Review of Studies Using the Early Development Instrument.

Magdalena Janus, Caroline Reid-Westoby, Noam Raiter, Barry Forer, Martin Guhn

Abstract readReview

In one paragraph

Review in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

8citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed.

Evaluating and shaping early childhood policy in New Mexico: using kindergarteners' developmental health as a population health measure.BMC public health · 2026
Article
Chronic absenteeism in Canadian kindergarten classes, pre- and post-COVID-19, and its association with concurrent developmental vulnerability.PloS one · 2026
Article
An assessment of the teacher completed 'Early Years Foundation Stage Profile' as a routine measure of child developmental health.PloS one · 2025
Article
Six-year (2016-2022) longitudinal patterns of mental health service utilization rates among children developmentally vulnerable in kindergarten and the COVID-19 pandemic disruption.PLOS digital health · 2024
Article
Student achievement trajectories in Ontario: Creating and validating a province-wide, multi-cohort and longitudinal database.International journal of population data science · 2023
Article
Re-Envisioning an Early Years System of Care towards Equity in Canada: A Critical, Rapid Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
Review
Introduction to the Special Issue on Early Child Development: From Measurement to Optimal Functioning and Evidence-Based Policy.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
Article
COVID-19 school closures and educational achievement gaps in Canada: Lessons from Ontario summer learning research.Canadian review of sociology = Revue canadienne de sociologie · 2021
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Magdalena JanusOfford Centre for Child Studies, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-9500-6776

Caroline Reid-WestobyOfford Centre for Child Studies, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-2419-7253

Noam RaiterMichael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8P 1H6, Canada.

Barry ForerHuman Early Learning Partnership, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.

Martin GuhnHuman Early Learning Partnership, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe Early Development Instrument (EDI) was developed as a population-level assessment of children's developmental health at school entry. EDI data collection has created unprecedented opportunities for population-level studies on children's developmental outcomes. The goal of this narrative review was to synthesize research using the EDI to describe how it contributes to expanding the understanding of the impacts of social determinants on child development and how it applies to special populations.

methodsSelect studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals between 2015 and 2020 and incorporating the social determinants of health perspectives were chosen to highlight the capability of the EDI to monitor children's developmental health and contribute knowledge in the area of early childhood development.

resultsA number of studies have examined the association between several social determinants of health and children's developmental outcomes, including hard-to-reach and low-frequency populations of children. The EDI has also been used to evaluate programs and interventions in different countries.

conclusionsThe ability of the EDI to monitor children's developmental outcomes in various populations has been consistently demonstrated. The EDI, by virtue of its comprehensive breadth and census-like collection, widens the scope of research relating to early childhood development and its social determinants of health.

Indexed as

Child DevelopmentSocial Determinants of HealthChildChild HealthChild, PreschoolEthnicityHumansSchoolsdevelopmental healthEarly Development Instrumentsocial determinants of health

Identifiers

PMID33805965

DOI10.3390/ijerph18073397

PMCPMC8037511

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.