2017 Volume 19 Issue 1 Pages 7-13
For early detection of neurodevelopmental disorders, it is necessary to look for restless behavior and difficulty with personal relationships in children without developmental delay during child health examinations. To achieve this, a novel medical examination that is able to detect neurodevelopmental disorders without missing cognitive behavior disorders should be developed. Therefore, we devised two methods for use in medical examinations of 5-year-old children.
First, we structured medical examinations divided into the five components of conversation, movement mimicry, coordinated movement, conception and motor impersistence. Second, after findings were detected in the structured medical examination, the universality of the findings was confirmed through interviews with parents. Interviews were divided into the three components of language development, prosocial development and hyperactive/impulsive behavior.
We conducted the above health examinations combined with follow-up consultations. The follow-up consultations were constructed as child care consultations, developmental consultations and educational consultations. These three consultations were remarkably effective in diminishing the medical needs of children. We also found that our health examinations of 5-year-old children contributed to reduced school refusal. In the future, it is expected that this health examination will be held in many regions in Japan.
