Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37773111›Full record

ArticleBMC pediatrics2023

The development and productivity of a measure for identifying low language abilities in children aged 24-36 months.

James Law, Jenna Charlton, Philip Wilson, Robert Rush, Vicky Gilroy, Cristina McKean

Erratum issuedAbstract read
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Article in BMC pediatrics, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing 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

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

James LawSchool of Education Communication and Language Sciences, Newcastle University, King George VI Building, Queen Victoria Rd, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE7 1RU, UK.
Jenna CharltonSchool of Education Communication and Language Sciences, Newcastle University, King George VI Building, Queen Victoria Rd, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE7 1RU, UK.
Philip WilsonInstitute of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Inverness, IV2 3JH, UK.
Robert RushFinn Coral Statistical Services, 16A Denham Green Terrace, Edinburgh, EH5 3PF, UK.
Vicky GilroyInstitute of Health Visiting | c/o Royal Society for Public Health, John Snow House, 59 Mansell Street, London, E1 8AN, UK.
Cristina McKeanSchool of Education Communication and Language Sciences, Newcastle University, King George VI Building, Queen Victoria Rd, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE7 1RU, UK. cristina.mckean@ncl.ac.uk.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAccurate early identification of children with low language ability is important but existing measures generally have low sensitivity. This remains an area of concern for preventive and public health services. This study aimed to create and evaluate a measure of child language, communication and related risks which can be used by community health nurses to accurately identify children with low language aged 24-30 months.

methodsThe Early Language Identification Measure (ELIM) was developed and comprised five measurement sections, each measuring different aspects of development combined into a single measure. This was tested blind against a reference standard language measure, the Preschool Language Scale-5 (PLS-5), at the universal 24-30-month health visitor review in England. The threshold for likely low language was the tenth centile or below on the PLS-5. The aim was to ascertain the performance of the five individual sections in the scale, and consider the optimum combination of sections, for predicting low language ability. Specificity, sensitivity, and positive and negative predictive values were reported for each of the five sections of the ELIM alone and in conjunction with each other. The performance for children from monolingual English-speaking families and those who spoke languages other than English were also considered separately.

resultsThree hundred and seventy-six children were assessed on both the ELIM identification measure and the PLS-5 with 362 providing complete data. While each section of the ELIM predicted low language ability, the optimal combination for predicting language outcome was the parent reported vocabulary checklist coupled with the practitioner observation of the child's communication and related behaviours. This gave a sensitivity of 0·98 with a specificity of 0·63.

conclusionsA novel measure has been developed which accurately identifies children at risk of low language, allowing clinicians to target resources efficiently and intervene early.

Indexed as

LanguageLanguage Development DisordersChildChild LanguageChild, PreschoolCommunicationHumansLanguage DevelopmentParentsChild developmentDevelopmental screeningEarly preventionLanguageLanguage delayPublic healthSurveillance

Identifiers

PMID37773111
PMCPMC10540411

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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.