How Do Primary Care Physicians Manage Children With Possible Developmental Delays?
Objective. Although early detection and treatment of developmental delays can improve outcome, little is known about factors that influence how primary care physicians manage young children with probable developmental delays. The objective of this study was to describe physician referral practices for children with developmental delays and to test whether the probability of referral is increased by 1) the expression of parental concern; 2) female gender in a child with language delay; 3) disruptive, as opposed to avoidant behaviors; and 4) physician characteristics, including female gender or being a pediatrician. Methods. A cross-sectional survey was mailed to a national random sample of 800 pediatricians and 800 family practice physicians in primary care practice, using an experimental randomized block design. Recipients randomly received alternative variants of clinical vignettes, which differed only in regard to the variable specific to each of the first 3 hypotheses. Physicians an
