Screening in child health: studies of the efficacy and relevance of preventive care practices.

BACKGROUND: Pediatric screening enables the prevention or early detection of diseases and developmental disturbances in infancy and childhood. Screening is a standard component of pediatric practice in many countries, but its scientific basis is not well known.
METHODS: The scientific justification for pediatric screening beyond the neonatal period is presented on the basis of a selective review of the literature on some aspects of pediatric screening.
RESULTS: The level of evidence varies highly among pediatric screening interventions and can be difficult to determine because of confounding variables. Parent counseling is associated with improvements in child-raising competence, accident prevention, and reading behavior. The early detection of abnormalities in a child's motor, linguistic, mental, or social development is possible and often leads to effective early interventions. Cyanotic congenital heart defects can be detected with 63% sensitivity and 99.8% specificity; cerebral palsy can be diagnosed with 33% to 100% sensitivity and 52.3% to 100% specificity (different figures from multiple studies). Physical therapy seems to improve some manifestations of cerebral palsy. Motor development at 90 days is correlated with motor development at 57 months (72% sensitivity, 91% specificity). A developmental quotient above 85 in a two-year-old child is correlated with an intelligence quotient above 85 when the child is 7 years old.
CONCLUSION: There is an increasing amount of scientific evidence in favor of pediatric screening. Nonetheless, further epidemiological studies are needed.