Abstract:
BACKGROUND : One of the greatest challenges in early communication intervention in
South Africa is developing and implementing successful identification strategies in primary
health care (PHC). A shortage of trained PHC personnel is one of the barriers to providing
adequate health services in South Africa. This dearth of services creates the need to substitute
clinician-administered developmental screening tools with parent-administered tools.
AIM : To determine the accuracy of the Zulu Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status
(PEDS) in comparison with the outcome of the English PEDS.
SETTING : The data were collected in a clinical, non-contrived environment at Stanza Bopape
Community Health Clinic in Mamelodi, City of Tshwane.
Methods: The PEDS is a standardised, parent-completed questionnaire regarding the child’s
general development. The English PEDS was translated into Zulu by a Zulu linguist. There
were 99 potential participants in the study of whom 83 met the necessary prerequisites.
RESULTS : Of the participants whose home language is Zulu, 54% preferred the PEDS in English
over the PEDS in Zulu. This indicates a skewed preference towards English, with only slight
associations between language preference and age, education and home language.
CONCLUSION : The Zulu PEDS displayed high positive and negative correspondences,
representative of an accurate translation of the English PEDS. It is recommended that this
study should be repeated in a community where the majority are Zulu home language
speakers.
