| Title | Screening for Speech and Language Delay in Preschool Children |
|---|---|
| Population | Children ages 5 years and younger who have not already been identified as at increased risk for speech and language delays |
| Recommendation | No recommendation. Grade: I (Insufficient Evidence) |
| Risk Assessment | The most consistently reported risk factors include a family history of speech and language delay, male sex, and perinatal factors, such as prematurity and low birth-weight. Other risk factors reported less consistently include levels of parental education, specific childhood illnesses, birth order, and larger family size. |
|---|---|
| Screening Tests | There is insufficient evidence that brief, formal screening instruments that are suitable for use in primary care for assessing speech and language development can accurately identify children who would benefit from further evaluation and intervention. |
| Balance of Benefits and Harms | The USPSTF could not determine the balance of benefits and harms of using brief, formal screening instruments to screen for speech and language delay in the primary care setting. |
| Other Relevant USPSTF Recommendations | The USPSTF has also made recommendations on screening for hearing loss in newborns and vision impairment in children ages 1 to 5 years. These recommendations are available at http://www |
For a summary of the evidence systematically reviewed in making this recommendation, the full recommendation statement, and supporting documents, please go to http://www
From: Clinical Summaries of Recommendations for Children and Adolescents
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