VALIDITY OF PARENT-COMPLETED DEVELOPMENTAL SCREENING IN CHILDREN WITH NEW-ONSET EPILEPSY BELOW THE AGE OF 3

Infants with childhood-onset epilepsies, including epileptic encephalopathies, are at high risk of developmental challenges such as motor and language delays. There has been a growing focus on developmental screening instruments due to the association between delayed development and long-term adverse outcomes, including negative impacts on health-related quality of life, school achievement and social participation. Therefore, children with developmental delays should be referred as early as possible to rehabilitation services such as occupational, physical, or speech therapy. Developmental screening using standardized tools is recommended in order to identify the high-risk children that require additional developmental assessments. The Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ), a parent-completed developmental screening tool, is one of the more cited and recommended developmental screening tools. However, its utility in children with early-onset epilepsy has yet to be validated