Screening for intellectual disability with the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Screening Questionnaire: a modified Delphi approach

Aim: To develop a consensus framework to evaluate the impact of screening for intellectual disability, using the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Screening Questionnaire (CAIDS-Q) in paediatric neurodevelopment clinics. Method: A modified Delphi survey with four phases (literature review; initial development of framework [participants=11 parents, 8 professionals]; qualitative interviews [participants=4 parents, 15 professionals]; questionnaire development [participants=31 parents, 14 professionals] was used to develop the consensus framework. The framework was used to evaluate the impact of screening on six paediatricians and 31 parents of children who had participated in a previous paediatric screening project. Results: Twelve of the original 20 items were retained based on levels of endorsement of 60 per cent or above. Direct benefits of using the CAIDS-Q were: indicating the child's level of functioning, increasing awareness of intellectual disability, helping to identify children with intellectual disability, and identifying potentially vulnerable children. Benefits related to subsequent diagnostic assessment were: promoting greater understanding of the child, identification of support needs, and receipt of support, particularly for the child at school. Interpretation: The use of the CAIDS-Q had a number of direct and indirect benefits for children, families, and services as reported by parents and paediatricians. What this paper adds: A 12-item framework was developed to evaluate the impact of screening for intellectual disability. Direct benefits of the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Screening Questionnaire include increasing awareness and identification of intellectual disability. Indirect benefits included increased identification of support needs and receipt of support.