Evidence of concurrent and predictive criterion validity of the Child Communication Screening Instrument from 0 to 36 months (IRC-36)

Purpose  To determine evidence of concurrent and predictive criterion validity of the Communication Screening Instrument for children aged 0 to 36 months (IRC-36).

Methods  78 parents/guardians of children who attend the childcare service of the Family Health Centers participated in the research, in addition to 33 children aged between 0 and 36 months, invited to the second stage of the study. In its first stage, 13 health professionals were trained to apply the IRC-36 to the children's parents/guardians. In the second moment, the parents responded to a new IRC-36 application, and the children were evaluated with Denver II.

Results  IRC-36 correlated with Denver II in more than half of the cases, confirming the instrument’s concurrent criterion validity. IRC-36 results in the first stage did not significantly correlate with Denver II. The instrument's cutoff value was 12, which is the reference value between children at risk and not at risk of communication disorders. The instrument had high sensitivity and an accuracy value within the recommended levels. The occurrence of risk of communication changes was higher in the second IRC-36 application.

Conclusion  The study presented evidence of concurrent criterion validity, indicating that the instrument has evidence of accuracy and validity measures to screen communication in children aged 0 to 36 months, being able to identify the risk for communication disorders.

Keywords:
Child Language; Child Development; Mass Screening; Validation Study; Psychometrics; Speech; Language and Hearing Sciences