Abstract
It is generally accepted that developmental handicaps can often be minimized through early detection and intervention. For this reason, it is normal practice in many hospitals to follow-up and screen infants who present at birth with established risk factors. Clinical judgement will always be important when selecting children for follow-up. However, as hospital data systems improve, automated systems could be developed for listing children potentially “at risk”. Where initial clinical decisions not to follow-up individual children prove to be at odds with this automated output, the individual child could be re-assessed clinically. This process could increase the level of quality control. An initial risk-factor model for intellectual disability has been developed, based on the South Australian Perinatal Statistics Collection, for use in this context.
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Jonas, O., Roder, D., Esterman, A. et al. Pregnancy and birth risk factors for intellectual disability in South Australia. Eur J Epidemiol 5, 322–327 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00144832
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00144832