Early language predictors replicated across two cohort studies

Early identification of language disorders ensures children in need receive support to improve development and quality of life outcomes. Drawing from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children birth cohort, this study used SuperLearner to estimate the accuracy of 6 parent-reported predictors (collected at 24-36 months) in predicting low 11-year language outcome. Of the 5107 children recruited at baseline, an outcome was available for 1441 (50.24% girls), of whom 78 (5.41%) had a low language score. The 6 predictors yielded 72% sensitivity (95% confidence interval, CI: [57,84]) and 71% specificity (95% CI: [68, 73]), which can be considered “fair” accuracy. These items relate to sentence complexity, vocabulary and gross motor skills. These results have now been replicated across 2 population-based cohorts.