Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands. j.m.kerstjens@bkk.umcg.nl
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the 48 months Ages and Stages Questionnaire (D_ASQ_48). DESIGN: Prospective cohort study of a community-based sample of children born in 2002 and 2003 whose parents filled out the D_ASQ_48 and a questionnaire on school status at 60 months. The ASQ was translated into Dutch and back-translated into English by three independent translators. SETTING: Well Child Centers covering 25% of the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: Parents of 1510 preterm and 562 term children born in 2002-2003 attending routine Well Child visits at age 45-50 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Reliability, validity and mean population scores for D_ASQ_48 compared to other countries. RESULTS: Mean population scores for the D_ASQ_48 were mostly similar to those in the USA, Norway and Korea. Exceptions (effect sizes of difference >0.5) were problem solving (USA) and fine motor (Korea). Reliability was good for the total score (Cronbach alpha 0.79) and acceptable for all domains (0.61-0.74). As expected, infants born at gestational age