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. 2019 Feb;60(2):57-62.
doi: 10.11622/smedj.2019016.

Developmental assessment: practice tips for primary care physicians

Ying Ying Choo  1 , Sita Padmini Yeleswarapu  2 , Choon How How  3   4 , Pratibha Agarwal  2
Affiliations

Developmental assessment: practice tips for primary care physicians

Ying Ying Choo et al. Singapore Med J. 2019 Feb.

Abstract

Child development refers to the continuous but predictably sequential biological, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the end of adolescence. Developmental surveillance should be incorporated into every child visit. Parents play an important role in the child's developmental assessment. The primary care physician should educate and encourage parents to use the developmental checklist in the health booklet to monitor their child's development. Further evaluation is necessary when developmental delay is identified. This article aimed to highlight the normal child developmental assessment as well as to provide suggestions for screening tools and questions to be used within the primary care setting.

Keywords: child developmental; developmental screening tools; primary care; surveillance.

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Figures

Box 1
Box 1
Developmental surveillance questions:
Box 2
Box 2
Developmental history:
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart shows the algorithmic approach to developmental screening.(4) Adapted and modified from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.(13)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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