INCLEN Diagnostic Tool for Neuromotor Impairments (INDT-NMI) for Primary Care Physician: Development and Validation.

Abstract
Objectives: To develop and validate a diagnostic tool for use by primary care physicians for diagnosing neuro-motor impairment among 2-9 year old children in primary care settings. Study design: Modified Delphi technique involving national (n=49) and international (n=6) experts was used for development of INDT-NMI. The tool was then validated through a cross sectional study. Setting: Neurology specialty clinics of three tertiary care pediatric centers in New Delhi, India. Participants: 454 children aged 2-9 years [mean (SD) age: 60.4 (23.7) mo], selected through systematic random sampling, underwent assessment for identification and classification of neuromotor impairments (NMI). Intervention: All study subjects were first administered INDTNMI (candidate test) by a trained physician followed by expert assessment for NMI and other neurodevelopment disorders (NDD) by team of two pediatric neurologists (Gold standard). Results: According to expert evaluation, 171 (37.8%) children had neuromotor impairments. There were four categories of subjects: NMI alone (n=66); NMI+other NDDs (n=105); Other NDDs without NMI (n=225) and ‘Normal’ group (n=58). Using expert evaluation as gold standard, overall sensitivity of the INDTNMI was 75.4% and specificity was 86.8%. INDT-NMI helped graduate physicians to correctly classify 86.6% (112/129) children with NMI into different types (cerebral palsy, neuromotor diseases and other NMI). Graduate physicians assigned 40 children (8.8%) as ‘indeterminate’, 38 (95%) of whom had either NDD and/or NMI and thus merited referral. Misclassification of NMI occurred in those with mild changes in muscle tone, dystonia, or ataxia and associated NDDs. Conclusion: Graduate primary care physicians with a structured short training can administer the new tool and diagnose NMI in 2-9 year old children with high validity. INDT-NMI requires further evaluation in actual primary care settings.
Description
Keywords
Cerebral palsy, Disability, Diagnosis, Neuromuscular disorders, Resource constrained environments
Citation
Gulati Sheffali, Aneja Satinder, Juneja Monica, Mukherjee Sharmila, Deshmukh Vaishali, Silberberg Donald, Bhutani Vinod K, Pinto Jennifer M, Durkin Maureen, Tudu Poma, Pandey Ravindra M, Nair M K C, Arora Narendra K. INCLEN Diagnostic Tool for Neuromotor Impairments (INDT-NMI) for Primary Care Physician: Development and Validation. Indian Pediatrics. 2014 Aug; 51(8): 613-619.