DIAGNOSTIC-VALUE OF ERTL4 - A SCREENING-TEST OF LANGUAGE DISORDERS FOR 4-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN

Background. - Language disorders in children are frequent and may some times severely affect their development, ERTL4 (screening test for lan guage disorders of children aged 4) is the first test for screening la nguage disorders to be used by doctors. It has not yet been evaluated. Aim. - The objective of this study is to assess and optimize the diag nostic value of the ERTL4 test and to evaluate its potential interest as a screening test. Material and methods, - A sample of 370 children was randomly constituted among children aged between 3 years 9 months and 4 years 6 months from schools in Nancy, France and surrounding are as. These children undertook both the ERTL4 test and a standardized ex amination of language and speech as a reference, Results. - Among the 325 children included in the analysis, 34.1% presented with disorders requiring speech and language therapy. ERTL4 sensitivity and specifici ty were 88.6% and 66.8%, respectively. Varying thresholds for disorder diagnoses and proposals for a modified test led to a sensitivity of 7 2.9% and a specificity of 91.0%. The proportion of well-classified sub jects improved from 73.8% to 85.3% (P < 10(-3)). Th, positive predicti ve value was 78.7% and the negative predictive value was 88.1% (with t he observed; frequency in the sample). Conclusion. - ERTL4 is a good t est for doctors to screening of children's language disorders and thei r management. (C) 1998 Elsevier, Paris.