Early educational intervention in the maternal and child health services‐‐long‐term evaluation of program effectiveness∗

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Abstract
The program's effectiveness justifies the integration of early infant stimulation programs into the existing health services, by the existing health personnel, thus modifying the pediatric health care which mainly focuses on physical health, by adding to it the developmental promotive aspect of child care. An early stimulation program aimed at promoting cognitive development of infants and young children was integrated into the routines of the Maternal and Child Health services. The program was implemented by nurses, at each visit of the mother with her infant at the centers, from birth to two years of age. The program focused on verbal and play interaction. At five years of age, three years after cessation of the intervention, evaluation was carried out on 59 pairs of exposed and control children matched for maternal ethnic group education and birth order and found to be similar on seven additional characteristics. A statistically significant difference in IQ score was found between the exposed and the control groups. The difference was more significant between exposed and controls whose mother belonged to the lower educational categories, and more so on the performance score than on the language score. In addition to the t test for matched pairs a modification of the Mantel Haenzel test for matched pairs was applied, in order to control for sib born after index case and exposure to additional intervention. Results were similar to the other methods of analysis used.