Validation of a new Lucknow Intelligence Screening Test for Indian children aged 9 to 15 yr

Abstract

Identification of cognitive impairment in the community is vital for need based planning of rehabilitative services. There is a need for a screening questionnaire to detect subnormal intelligence in older children in the community. The aim of this study was to validate an indigenously developed screening tool for detecting intellectual disability in the community amongst children aged 9 to 15 yr. This study was conducted in Pediatric Outpatient Department of Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University Lucknow, India. A screening questionnaire was developed with learning, language, cognition and social domains. This was pretested and checked for reliability. It was then validated on 144 children aged 9 to 15 yr attending the hospital who were not acutely ill and whose parents consented for the study. A literate layperson with some training administered the screening questionnaire to parents of such children. Validation was done by a Child Psychologist using the Binet Kamat Test (Indian version of Stanford Binet test) and Seguin Form Board for intelligence quotient and Vineland Social Maturity Scale (Malin's-Indian version) for social quotient (SQ). Validation was considered positive if both intelligence quotient and SQ were less than 85 or if used alone SQ was less than 85. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated as 86.2% and 81.7% respectively. This study concludes that the Lucknow Intelligence Screening Test is a valid parent-administered intellectual disability-screening instrument for easy and effective use in the community.

Keywords

Screening instrument - Lucknow intelligence screening test - intelligence screening - parent-administered screening tool - reliability - sensitivity - specificity