[Evaluation of quality of service in Early Intervention: A systematic review]

Abstract

Introduction: Early Intervention (EI), as a paediatric service, has the duty of quantifying the results and the quality of its services provided. The accessibility of valid and reliable tools allows professionals to evaluate the quality of these services.

Main objective: The aim of this study is to review the scientific literature on tools used to measure the methodological and service quality in EI.

Methods: A search was made in different databases: Medline (from PubMed), Web of Science, PsycINFO, Cochrane, Scopus, ERIC and Scielo. The methodological quality of the studies was tested using the COSMIN scale.

Results: A total of 13 manuscripts met the criteria to be included in this review. Ten of them received a "good" or "reasonable" score based on the COSMIN scale.

Conclusions: Despite its importance, there is no consensus among authors on the measurement of service quality in EI. It is often the family of the children attended in EI that are considered the target to study, although the opinion of professionals carries more weight and completes the information.

Keywords: Atención Temprana; Calidad de servicio; Early Intervention; Instrumentos de medida; Measurement tools; Revisión sistemática; Service quality; Systematic review.