Introduction:

The application of screening tests in the health controls of children allows the early detection of psychomotor development’s problems.

Objective:

To describe the design and methods used to obtain an instrument for the detection of psychomotor developmental problems in children under six years old.

Methods:

A development research was carried out between 2014 and 2018, in which a stratified, three-phase and equiprobabilistic sample design was applied by age group and sex. It included nine health areas (polyclinics) in the same number of municipalities and 256 Family doctor-and-nurse’s offices. The inclusion criteria were: children classified as healthy, between 15 days and 6.5 years, with permanent residence in the care area of the selected family doctor-and-nurse’s offices and with the consent of parents or guardians; those with acute diseases at the time of evaluation were excluded.

Results:

80 developmental guidelines were selected, and those were distributed in 4 areas and 25 age groups. A total of 1 333 children were studied representing the 96.8 % of the estimated sample. On average, 53 children were evaluated by age group; the average of guidelines evaluated per child was 22. The level of maternal education was high.

Conclusions:

The design and methods used constitute a reliable base with the purpose of obtaining a valid instrument for the research of psychomotor development’s problems in children under six years, which also it allows obtaining useful information from the assistance and epidemiological point of view.

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