Diagnostic validity of the Chinese Child Development Inventory in screening children with developmental language delay

Abstract Objectives The Chinese Child Developmental Inventory (CCDI) is one of the most commonly used developmental screening tools. However, limited data are available regarding the diagnostic validity (sensitivity and specificity) of the CCDI in identifying children with developmental language disorders. The aim of this study was to determine how well the CCDI functions within a hospital-based setting when administered by clinicians. Materials and Methods A hospital-based sample of 235 children (aged 15–78 months) with suspected developmental language delay was included for a validity test. The subscales of the CCDI examined in this study were expressive language (EL), comprehension conceptual (CC), situation comprehension (SC), self-help, personal–social (PS), and general development (GD). Results Acceptable high specificities (77.9–95.1%) were found for most of the subscales, except for the PS (57.6%). The EL subscale was the most suitable for the screening of children with language delay, but the sensitivity was only at the acceptable (66%) level. The EL and PS subscales were good predictors of autistic spectrum disorders with specificities of 70% and 76.2%, respectively. Rather high sensitivities were observed for the EL, CC, and SC subscales (71–80%) for children with developmental delay. Conclusion The CCDI completed by parents is a valid screening tool for identifying children with risks of developmental language delay.