[Evaluation of the Language-related Domain of the Pediatric Developmental Screening Instrument for Preschool Health Examinations (SOPESS): Results from the Prospective Child Health Survey ikidS].

Purpose Of The Study: Developmental delays at school enrollment can affect early educational achievement. Thus, diagnosis and treatment prior to school entry are important. In Germany, SOPESS - a pediatric developmental screening instrument for preschool health examinations (PHE) - was introduced in several federal states. We investigated the relationships between the results of the language-related domain of the SOPESS and later academic language competencies at the end of first grade.

Procedures: Data of the population-based cohort study ikidS (Rhineland Palatinate; Germany) and the PHE provided by public health authorities were linked at individual level. The relationship between the SOPESS-language risk score (range: 0 to 6, higher values indicate more developmental delay) and class teacher-based ratings of academic language competencies (range: -4 to+4, higher values indicate better competencies) was investigated with linear regression models and adjusted for several socio-economic and medical language predictors (e. g. age at school entry, gender, parental education, migration background, hearing disorder). The additional benefits of the SOPESS-language risk score was analyzed using analysis of variance.

Results: In total, 1357 children (48% girls, age at PHE 4.9-7.2 years) were included. A clear negative relationship between the SOPESS-language risk score and competencies in spoken and written language was found. Mean academic language competencies decreased with increasing SOPESS-language risk level from 0.8 (SD=1.7) at a risk score of 0 to-3.2 (SD=0.9) at a risk score of 6. The relationship persisted after adjusting for other language predictors. Analysis of variance showed significant benefits of the SOPESS-language risk score, even when further language predictors were considered.

Conclusions: There was a clear relationship between results of the SOPESS-language screening and later academic language competencies. Hence, the language-related domain of the SOPESS may be useful for further recommendations of tailored special educational and medical support services, especially if additional socio-economic and medical factors are considered.