Protocol for validation of the Global Scales for Early Development (GSED) for children under 3 years of age in seven countries

Protocol for validation of the Global Scales for Early Development (GSED) for children under 3 years of age in seven countries · SciRah

^aDepartment of Mental Health and Substance Use, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
^bDepartment of Mental Health and Substance Use
^cWorld Health Organization
^dSchool of Medicine, Keele University, Keele, UK
^eKeele University
^fSchool of Medicine
^gDepartment of Women and Children's Health, Institute of Life COurse and Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
^hDepartment of Women and Children's Health, Institute of Life COurse and Medical Sciences
ⁱUniversity of Liverpool
^jDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
^kInternational Education, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
^lDepartment of Pediatrics
^mInternational Education
ⁿRTI International
^oUniversity of Maryland School of Medicine
^pDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
^qDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health
^rThe Aga Khan University
^sResearch, Projahnmo Research Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh
^tProjahnmo Research Foundation
^uResearch
^vCenter for Public Health Kinetics, CPHK Global, Pemba, Zanzibar, Tanzania
^wCPHK Global
^xCenter for Public Health Kinetics
^yIPA Côte d'Ivoire, Innovations for Poverty Action, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
^zIPA Côte d'Ivoire
^aaInnovations for Poverty Action
^abDepartment of Pediatrics, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
^acUniversity of São Paulo Medical School
^adShanghai Children's Medical Center Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shangai, People's Republic of China
^aeShanghai Children's Medical Center Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
^afDepartment of Child Health, Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, Leiden, Netherlands
^agDepartment of Child Health
^ahNetherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research
^aiEducation Policy and Program Evaluation, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
^ajEducation Policy and Program Evaluation
^akHarvard Graduate School of Education
^alCenter for Effective Global Action, University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, California, USA
^amCenter for Effective Global Action
^anUniversity of California Berkeley School of Public Health
^aoSchool of Public Health, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA
^apSchool of Public Health
^aqUniversity of Nevada Reno
^arHealth Promotion, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
^asHealth Promotion
^atUniversity of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health
^auDepartment of Methodology and Statistics, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
^avDepartment of Methodology and Statistics, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
^awUniversity of Utrecht
^axInternational Center for Maternal and Newborn Health, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
^ayInternational Center for Maternal and Newborn Health, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
^azJohns Hopkins University
^baChild Health Advocacy Institute, National Children’s Medical Center, Shanghai Children's Medical Center Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
^bbChild Health Advocacy Institute, National Children’s Medical Center
^bcSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
^bdSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute
^beUniversity of Basel
^bfSocial Protection and Health Division, Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, DC, USA
^bgInter-American Development Bank
^bhSocial Protection and Health Division
✉Corresponding author

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Children's early development is affected by caregiving experiences, with lifelong health and well-being implications. Governments and civil societies need population-based measures to monitor children's early development and ensure that children receive the care needed to thrive. To this end, the WHO developed the Global Scales for Early Development (GSED) to measure children's early development up to 3 years of age. The GSED includes three measures for population and programmatic level measurement: (1) short form (SF) (caregiver report), (2) long form (LF) (direct administration) and (3) psychosocial form (PF) (caregiver report). The primary aim of this protocol is to validate the GSED SF and LF. Secondary aims are to create preliminary reference scores for the GSED SF and LF, validate an adaptive testing algorithm and assess the feasibility and preliminary validity of the GSED PF. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will conduct the validation in seven countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire, Pakistan, The Netherlands, People's Republic of China, United Republic of Tanzania), varying in geography, language, culture and income through a 1-year prospective design, combining cross-sectional and longitudinal methods with 1248 children per site, stratified by age and sex. The GSED generates an innovative common metric (Developmental Score: D-score) using the Rasch model and a Development for Age Z-score (DAZ). We will evaluate six psychometric properties of the GSED SF and LF: concurrent validity, predictive validity at 6 months, convergent and discriminant validity, and test-retest and inter-rater reliability. We will evaluate measurement invariance by comparing differential item functioning and differential test functioning across sites. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has received ethical approval from the WHO (protocol GSED validation 004583 20.04.2020) and approval in each site. Study results will be disseminated through webinars and publications from WHO, international organisations, academic journals and conference proceedings. REGISTRATION DETAILS: Open Science Framework https://osf.io/ on 19 November 2021 (DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/KX5T7; identifier: osf-registrations-kx5t7-v1).

TL;DRThis protocol will evaluate six psychometric properties of the GSED SF and LF: concurrent validity, predictive validity at 6 months, convergent and discriminant validity, and test–retest and inter-rater reliability, and evaluate measurement invariance by comparing differential item functioning and differential test functioning across sites. (Semantic Scholar)

Protocol for validation of the Global Scales for Early Development (GSED) for children under 3 years of age in seven countries

Abstract

Plain-language summary

Discussion