Principal Component Analysis of Munich Functional Developmental Diagnosis

Objectives: Munich Functional Developmental Diagnosis (MFDD) is a scale for assessing the psychomotor development of children in the first months or years of life. The tool is based on standardized tables of physical development and is used to detect developmental deficits. It consists of eight axes on which the following skills are assessed: crawling, sitting, walking, grasping, perception, speaking, speech understanding, social skills. Methods: The study included 110 children in the first year of life examined with the MFDD by the same physician. The score obtained on a given axis was coded as a negative value (defined in months) below the child’s age-specific developmental level. Next, we examined the dimensionality of the scale and the intercorrelation of its axes using polychoric correlation and principal component analysis. Results: Correlation matrix analysis showed high correlation of MFDD axes 1–4, and MFDD 6–8. The PCA identified three principal components consisting of children’s development in the areas of large and small motor skills (axis 1–4), perception (axis 5), active speech, passive speech and social skills (axis 6–8). The three dimensions obtained together account for 80.27% of the total variance. Conclusions: MFDD is a three-dimensional scale that includes motor development, perception, and social skills and speech. There is potential space for reduction in the number of variables in the scale.