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Background: Positioning is a part of routine neonatal care in most neonatal intensive care units. Optimal positioning has been controversially advocated as a practice for providing better neuro-developmental outcomes in prematures. Objectives: To evaluate by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) the effect of changing posture on regional saturation of oxygen (rSO2) in the brain in mechanically ventilated preterm newborns during first 3 days after delivery. Methods: Twenty stable ventilated preterm newborns were studied by NIRS in four different positions sequentially including supine, right-side-lying, prone, and left-side-lying, as well as in 3 intermediate periods between the four main positions. Results: About 45 percent of the sample of 20 neonates was under 30 weeks with a mean gestational age of 30.985 ± 6.459. Also, 50 percent were less than 1500 grams, with a mean weight of 1638.75 ± 623.04 grams. No statistically significant changes in rSO2 were found in the 4 main positions but we found significant difference between the rSO2 values of the “intermediate period between the right-side-lying and the prone position” with all other main positions and intermediate periods. Conclusions: The four main postures utilized in the practice of positioning infants, do not differ in terms of cerebral oxygenation. However, it seems that wide ranges of spatial mobilization in ventilated preterm neonates may be a potential cause of fall in brain oxygenation.

Objectives: This research was designed to evaluate the developmental status of children aged 4 to 60 months in Tehran city by two parent-based developmental screening questionnaires, parents evaluation of developmental status (PEDS) and ages and stages questionnaires (ASQ), and also to determine the consistency coefficient between these two tests. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, PEDS and ASQ were performed on 648 children (350 boys and 298 girls), aged 4 to 60 (mean, 23.5 ± 16.10) months at four health centers in Tehran city. Results: Developmental disorders were observed in 23.1% of children (4.6% delayed and 18.5% suspicious), who were examined by PEDS, and in 26.4% of children, who were examined by ASQ (14.7% delayed and 11.7% suspicious). The estimated values of kappa measure of agreement and Pearson Chi-Square for the results of the two screening tests were 0.30 (P < 0.001) and 115.98 (P < 0.001), respectively. The results of these tests were similar in 93.3%, 94% and 91% of cases in fine motor, gross motor and language domains of development, respectively. Due to the rather large sample size and similarity of the screening results by both questionnaires in 71.5% of cases, it is possible to conclude that this measure is an acceptable one. Conclusions: This study showed that PEDS and ASQ have acceptable agreement, thus it seems that PEDS can be used for children’s developmental screening especially in child care visits.

Background Advances in perinatal and neonatal care have substantially improved the survival of at-risk infants over the past two decades. Objectives The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of the Bayley Scales of infant and toddler developmental Screening test in Persian-speaking children. Methods This was a cross-sectional prospective study of 403 children aged 1 - 42-months. The Bayley scales screening instrument, which consists of five domains (cognitive, receptive, and expressive communication and fine and gross motor items), was used to measure infants' and toddlers' development. The psychometric properties examined included the face and content validity of the scale, in addition to cultural and linguistic modifications to the scale and its test-retest and inter-rater reliability. Results An expert team changed some of the test items relating to cultural and linguistic issues. In almost all the age groups, cultural or linguistic changes were made to items in the communication domains. According to Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency, the reliability of the cognitive scale was r = 0.79, and the reliability of the receptive scale was r = 0.76. The reliability for expressive communication, fine motor, and gross motor scales was r = 0.81, r = 0.80, and r = 0.81, respectively. The construct validity of the tests was confirmed using a factor analysis and comparison of the mean scores of the age groups. The intra- and inter-rater reliabilities of the Bayley Scales were good-to-excellent. Conclusions The results indicated that the Bayley Scales had a high level of reliability in the present study. Thus, the scale can be used in a Persian population.

Objective This research was designed to identify the validity and reliability of the Persian version of Denver Developmental Screening Test II (DDST-II) in Iranian children, in order to provide an appropriate developmental screening tool for Iranian child health workers. Methods At first a precise translation of test was done by three specialists in English literature and then it was revised by three pediatricians familiar with developmental domains. Then, DDST-II was performed on 221 children ranging from 0 to 6 years, in four Child Health Clinics, in north, south, east and west regions of Tehran city. In order to determine the agreement coefficient, these children were also evaluated by ASQ test. Because ASQ is designed to use for 4–60 month- old children, children who were out of this rang were evaluated by developmental pediatricians. Available sampling was used. Obtained data was analyzed by SPSS software. Findings Developmental disorders were observed in 34% of children who were examined by DDST-II, and in 12% of children who were examined by ASQ test. The estimated consistency coefficient between DDST-II and ASQ was 0.21, which is weak, and between DDST-II and the physicians’ examination was 0.44. The content validity of DDST-II was verified by reviewing books and journals, and by specialists’ opinions. All of the questions in DDST-II had appropriate content validity, and there was no need to change them. Test-retest and Inter-rater methods were used in order to determine reliability of the test, by Cronbach's α and Kauder-Richardson coefficients. Kauder-Richardson coefficient for different developmental domains was between 61% and 74%, which is good. Cronbach's α coefficient and Kappa measure of agreement for test-retest were 92% and 87% and for Inter-rater 90% and 76%, respectively. Conclusion This research showed that Persian version of DDST-II has a good validity and reliability, and can be used as a screening tool for developmental screening of children in Tehran city.