Home visiting to families with a newborn child

Abstract

Objective — To validate child health clinic nurses' observations at the first visit to families having a newborn baby.

Design — The nurses' observations were compared with results from a prenatal assessment of the home conditions and with observations made by a psychologist at a home visit about one year later.

Setting — A newbuilt suburb of Stockholm. Participants — 373 families with a newborn.

Outcome measures — Distribution of observations in subgroups, maximum likelihood, positive predictive value.

Results — A significant relationship between the nurses' observations, the prenatal assessment, and the psychologist's evaluation of the home situation was found. Children from homes assessed as ≪at risk≫ by the nurses also had lower quotients at Griffiths' test one year later.

Conclusion — Already during the child's neonatal period, the nurses make valid observations that are useful in selecting children at risk of subsequent developmental problems.

Key Words:

• home visit
• child health clinic
• prospective study
• longitudinal study
• psychosocial stress
• Griffiths' scales
• mental development