Gender Differences in the Performance of Language Assessment Scale Trivandrum (LEST) in Children Aged Between Zero and Three Years.

Background The Language Assessment Scale Trivandrum (LEST) is a commonly used scale to assess the language development of children aged between zero and three years. The scale is commonly utilized in healthcare and community environments; however, there are no publicly available gender-specific standards that are used in the scale. The current study set out to examine gender disparities observed in the test and determine whether future accurate assessments will require the creation of separate LEST scales for boys and girls. Methodology A cross-sectional study was conducted among 198 children aged between zero and three years, with 99 girls and 99 boys. Parents of all eligible children after obtaining consent were interviewed, and the LEST scale was used to assess them in the form of a questionnaire. The LEST scale has 33 test items, which are used to test language development. Results There were substantial gender disparities between girls and boys. Boys had a delay in acquiring language milestones compared to girls, and the difference was significant. Overall, 27 girls out of 78 delayed children (34.6%) and 51 boys out of 78 delayed children (65.4%) had language delays with a significant p-value of 0.003. Conclusions Our study suggests that boys follow a different timeline for achieving language milestones compared to girls. These findings need to be validated with a larger study, and if found to have a significant difference, separate scales can be developed for boys and girls to assess language-acquiring skills.