THE USE OF THE MENTAL-DEVELOPMENT INDEX OF THE BAYLEY SCALE TO DIAGNOSE LANGUAGE DELAY IN 2 YEAR-OLD HIGH-RISK INFANTS

To determine if a detailed analysis of the language items of the Bayle y Scales of Infant Development (BSID) would be useful in detecting lan guage delay, the Bayley Mental Development Index (MDI) and Reynell Dev elopmental Language Scales (RDLS-R) were administered to 137 low-birth weight infants at 2 years of age. In spite of scores in the normal ran ge on the BSID, many of these children had significantly delayed langu age. However, the children with delayed language could be detected on the basis of detailed analysis of certain language items of the MDI, i ndicating that these items are more useful than the total MDI score.