Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Assessment fidelity of a language screening instrument for 4-year-olds

Dahlén, Johanna ; Drevenhorn, Eva LU and Kalnak, Nelli LU (2023) In Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology 48(4). p.189-196
Abstract

Aim: The aim of the study was to explore the assessment fidelity of Språkfyran, a language screening instrument for four-year-old children. Språkfyran is a mandatory part of the healthcare program within the Swedish Child Health Service (CHS) and is offered to all four-year-olds in the region Scania in Sweden. Methods: The study was based on structured observations of twenty-four specialist CHS nurses’ adherence to the Språkfyran protocol during screening. Results: All the observed nurses deviated from the test protocol. There was a large variation in the number of deviations from the test protocol per nurse, with the highest number of deviations occurring for three specific testing items. Significantly more deviations were made with... (More)

Aim: The aim of the study was to explore the assessment fidelity of Språkfyran, a language screening instrument for four-year-old children. Språkfyran is a mandatory part of the healthcare program within the Swedish Child Health Service (CHS) and is offered to all four-year-olds in the region Scania in Sweden. Methods: The study was based on structured observations of twenty-four specialist CHS nurses’ adherence to the Språkfyran protocol during screening. Results: All the observed nurses deviated from the test protocol. There was a large variation in the number of deviations from the test protocol per nurse, with the highest number of deviations occurring for three specific testing items. Significantly more deviations were made with four-year-old bilingual children as opposed to four-year-old monolingual children. Half of the nurses did not use the test protocol. Conclusions: There is a clear need to improve the assessment fidelity of Språkfyran. Both the training that the nurses are offered, and the development of the test, are essential in securing the aim of high-quality work within the CHS. Support from experts in child speech-language development and disorders is suggested to be available at the CHS in Sweden.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
assessment fidelity, bilingual, child health services, developmental language disorder, Language screening, nurses
in
Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology
volume
48
issue
4
pages
189 - 196
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • pmid:35649166
  • scopus:85131383101
ISSN
1401-5439
DOI
10.1080/14015439.2022.2081874
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3a9b3977-63ba-49ce-b423-b1e33267b93d
date added to LUP
2023-02-08 13:49:52
date last changed
2024-04-14 18:16:12
@article{3a9b3977-63ba-49ce-b423-b1e33267b93d,
  abstract     = {{<p>Aim: The aim of the study was to explore the assessment fidelity of Språkfyran, a language screening instrument for four-year-old children. Språkfyran is a mandatory part of the healthcare program within the Swedish Child Health Service (CHS) and is offered to all four-year-olds in the region Scania in Sweden. Methods: The study was based on structured observations of twenty-four specialist CHS nurses’ adherence to the Språkfyran protocol during screening. Results: All the observed nurses deviated from the test protocol. There was a large variation in the number of deviations from the test protocol per nurse, with the highest number of deviations occurring for three specific testing items. Significantly more deviations were made with four-year-old bilingual children as opposed to four-year-old monolingual children. Half of the nurses did not use the test protocol. Conclusions: There is a clear need to improve the assessment fidelity of Språkfyran. Both the training that the nurses are offered, and the development of the test, are essential in securing the aim of high-quality work within the CHS. Support from experts in child speech-language development and disorders is suggested to be available at the CHS in Sweden.</p>}},
  author       = {{Dahlén, Johanna and Drevenhorn, Eva and Kalnak, Nelli}},
  issn         = {{1401-5439}},
  keywords     = {{assessment fidelity; bilingual; child health services; developmental language disorder; Language screening; nurses}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{189--196}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology}},
  title        = {{Assessment fidelity of a language screening instrument for 4-year-olds}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14015439.2022.2081874}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/14015439.2022.2081874}},
  volume       = {{48}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}