Validation of the International Guide for Monitoring Child Development demonstrates good sensitivity and specificity in four diverse countries

Aim It is of critical importance to have internationally constructed tools to address early childhood development. The aim of this second phase of a two‐phase study was to examine the sensitivity and specificity of the Guide for Monitoring Child Development (GMCD) in identifying developmental delay in four diverse countries. Methods The first phase of this 2011–2015 back‐to‐back study included 4949 children up to 42 months of age from primary healthcare centres in Argentina, India, South Africa and Turkey. Distribution curves were generated to show the ages when the children attained GMCD milestones and those that could be used across sexes and countries were placed in age ranges corresponding to the 85th and 97th percentile point estimates. Phase two examined a separately recruited sample of children in those countries to determine sensitivity and specificity of the GMCD. Results The validation phase of the 85 milestones in the GMCD identified delayed development in 30% of the 1731 children in the four countries. The sensitivity and specificity ranged from 0.71–0.94 and 0.69–0.82, respectively, for the total sample and the different age groups. Conclusion The GMCD standardised in four diverse countries has appropriate accuracy for identification of children with developmental delay.