(Pre)linguistic Skills of Very Preterm Children at Two Years of Corrected Age Measured Using Parental Report Instrument - IALP 2025 Innovation and Inspiration in Communication Sciences and Disorders

Anna Markkula ¹ Riikka Pyhälä ² Petriina Munck ² Jadwiga Buchwald ³ Marjo Metsäranta ⁴ Suvi Stolt ¹

¹Department of Speech-Language Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
²Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
³Biostatistics Unit, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
⁴Department of Pediatrics, New Children’s Hospital, Pediatric Research Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

Preterm children have a higher risk for delays in language development (Barre et al., 2011), but weak language skills are not always identified early. The Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile Infant-Toddler Checklist (CSBS-DP ITC) (Wetherby & Prizant, 2002) is a valid (Wetherby et al., 2002) parental report instrument for assessing children’s (pre)linguistic skills and detecting potentially delayed development at an early age. However, only rare studies have used it in preterm populations in toddlerhood. We aimed to investigate the level of (pre)linguistic skills among Finnish very preterm (VP; <32 gestational weeks and/or birthweight ≤1500 grams) children at two years of corrected age using CSBS-DP ITC. Parents of VP children (N=113) filled in the electronic form of the ITC. The method consists of three subscales: communication, expressive speech, and symbolic composite. Total score is 57, and weak skills are defined by 10th percentile according to the Finnish norms (total score: <49). Among the participants, mean total score was 49.4 (SD 5.9, min.-max. 10–57) and the prevalence of weak skills 32.7% (communication: 19.5%; expressive speech: 30.1%; symbolic: 15.0%). Of all VP children, 69.9% scored below the 25th percentile cutoff and only 30.1% within 25th-100th. Boys and girls did not differ in total score (means 49.0 vs. 49.8; t(110.47)=–0.67, p=0.50) or in the subscales (means 22.1 vs. 21.7, 11.5 vs. 12.3, 15.5 vs. 15.8, respectively, p-values 0.12–0.45). To conclude, present sample of Finnish speaking VP children included a considerable number of children with weak prelinguistic skills compared to the norming sample. Present findings suggest that CSBS-DP ITC may be a useful tool for early identification of weak (pre)linguistic skills among VP children, also in clinical contexts.

Barre, N., Morgan, A., Doyle, L. W. & Anderson, P. J. (2011). Language Abilities in Children Who Were Very Preterm and/or Very Low Birth Weight: A Meta-Analysis. The Journal of Pediatrics, 158, 766–774.

Wetherby, A. M., Allen, L., Cleary, J., Kublin, K. & Goldstein, H. (2002). Validity and Reliability of the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile With Very Young Children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 45, 1202–1218.

Wetherby, A. M. & Prizant, B. M. (2002). Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc.