The TEDDY Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The TEDDY Study: Tests to Evaluate Developmental Difficulties in Young Children
IRAS ID
246735
Contact name
Anthony R Hart
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 7 days
Research summary
Some babies are high risk of developmental or learning difficulties later in life, for example premature babies or those experiencing brain injury around the time of birth. It is recommended that high risk babies are seen in development clinics, where a health professional “screens” them to determine if their development is normal or not. This could involve either taking a history, or asking parents to complete a questionnaire, or a brief assessment of the child using specific toys. Most children will have normal development and the family will be reassured.
It is not routine to perform formal developmental assessments on these children because they take around two hours per child, leading to significant cost and time constraints. If less children with normal development were screened in outpatient clinics, NHS resources could be redirected towards performing formal developmental assessments in children who are at highest risk of difficulties.
Although the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have recommended which screening tests to do in premature babies at two years of age, there is little evidence to justify their recommendations and they have not made recommendations for other high-risk babies. A number of commercially available child development screening tests exist, and there is no clear evidence on which is best. We also do not know whether asking parents simple questions, such as “is your child’s development normal?”, are as good as screening tests. If they are, then families can be screened with a single phone call or questionnaire, and the child may not require a hospital appointment, freeing up NHS resources.
This study will compare different screening tools and two simple parental questions in children at risk of developmental problems or children in whom concerns already exist. We will determine the best way to screen children for development problems.
REC name
North East - Tyne & Wear South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NE/0356
Date of REC Opinion
13 Nov 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion