Griffiths Mental Developmental Scales (GMDS): validation for Chinese children

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The Griffiths Mental Developmental Scales (GMDS) are used by Developmental Paediatricians or psychologists in many countries to assess the developmental profile in children aged 0- 8 years old. There is an increasing awareness of developmental disorders in children in China; the prevalence of pre-school children with developmental disorders was reported to be 12.97%. The GMDS have been validated for normal children in the United Kingdom. However, there are differences in culture and beliefs in Asia and the Western societies. In this study, the GMDS have been translated into Chinese and back translated and modified according to Chinese culture. This prospective study aims to provide validation of the GMDS for urban Chinese children. METHOD: Children from 7 different cities in China with typical development were recruited into the study from 2009-2013. Their developmental status was assessed using the translated and back-translated Chinese form of GMDS. RESULTS: 815 Chinese children (424 boys and 391 girls) with age 7 days to 8 years had been recruited. GMDS scores were analyzed. Smooth developmental curves with standard deviations and percentile scores were computed for the 6 sub-scales (A=Locomotor, B=Personal-Social, C=Hearing and Language, D=Eye and Hand Co-ordination, E=Performance, F=Practical Reasoning) using the LMS method. Plots of the 1st, 2.5th, 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, 95th, 97.5th and 99th percentiles were obtained showing similar trend as the British in subscales. CONCLUSION: There are similarities and differences in the Chinese developmental curves as compared to the British developmental curves. These differences are most obvious for subscale F i.e. practical reasoning. In the future, all Chinese children should be assessed using this first and newly validated Chinese 'developmental growth' chart. This will avoid inaccurate estimation of the developmental profile of Chinese children.