RBSK screens 270 million kids. We mapped every question to theirs.
RBSK (Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram) is India's national child health screening program, screening children from birth to 18 years for developmental delays, defects, diseases, and deficiencies. It's been independently validated at 97% sensitivity and 96.4% specificity against ASQ-3. We've mapped our 131 questions domain-by-domain against RBSK's screening items.
To be clear: mapping our questions to RBSK doesn't make this RBSK-validated. The scoring logic hasn't been tested against RBSK benchmarks or with Indian populations. This is alignment for integration planning, not endorsement.
RBSK's own validation
RBSK isn't just a government checklist. It's been validated against the ASQ-3 gold standard in peer-reviewed studies. These are RBSK's numbers, not ours.
97.0%
Sensitivity
96.4%
Specificity
99.6%
PPV
0.854
Cohen's Kappa
Source: "Validation of RBSK screening tool in Screening of Developmental Delay among under 3-year children in Bengaluru" (PMC, 2024). A separate study validated the Assamese version (PubMed, 2025).
Domain mapping
Our 8 domains map onto RBSK's 4 broad categories. We're more granular in some areas, they cover a wider age range. Here's where things line up and where they don't.
| MyChild Engine | RBSK equivalent | How they overlap |
|---|---|---|
| Gross Motor | Motor development | Full overlap Both cover head control, sitting, standing, walking |
| Fine Motor | Motor development (fine) | Partial RBSK covers basic grasp; we're more granular (pincer, transfer, stacking) |
| Receptive Language | Language / Communication | Partial We separate receptive from expressive; RBSK combines them |
| Expressive Language | Language / Communication | Partial Same as above |
| Social-Emotional | Social / Personal | Good overlap Social responsiveness, attachment, play |
| Cognitive / Play | Cognitive | Partial We cover problem-solving and object permanence; RBSK is less granular |
| Self-Help / Adaptive | Personal / Adaptive | Partial Feeding, dressing, toileting covered by both |
| Vision / Hearing | Sensory screening | Partial RBSK has separate sensory protocols; we embed sensory items within milestones |
How the two systems differ
RBSK is a national screening program designed for community health workers with limited training. We're an open-source engine designed for developers building screening tools. Different goals, different tradeoffs.
| Aspect | MyChild Engine | RBSK |
|---|---|---|
| Age range | 0-36 months | 0-6 years |
| Questions | 131 weighted questions | ~30 screening items (0-3 years) |
| Scoring | Evidence-weighted severity with grace windows | Pass/fail with referral threshold |
| Domains | 8 independent domains | 4 broad categories |
| Evidence weights | Low / Medium / High / Red-Flag | Binary (concern / no concern) |
| False positive reduction | 5 probe types (P1-P5) | Limited follow-up guidance |
| Regression detection | Automatic (achieved to not_yet) | Manual clinician judgment |
| Preterm correction | Automatic until 24 months | Clinician-directed |
What each system has that the other doesn't
What we add to RBSK
- Evidence-weighted scoring with configurable thresholds. Not just pass/fail
- 5 probe types that reduce false positives before escalating
- Automatic regression detection. If a skill disappears, severity goes up
- Corrected age for preemies, built into the logic
- Per-domain confidence scores with evidence sufficiency gates
- A rule simulator so you can test threshold changes before deploying them
What RBSK has that we don't
- Coverage from 3-6 years. We stop at 36 months
- Integration with India's health infrastructure (ABDM, Poshan Tracker)
- A trained health worker protocol for in-person administration
- Referral pathways to District Early Intervention Centres (DEICs)
- Screening for defects, diseases, and deficiencies beyond developmental delays
Where this goes
India's health stack is real infrastructure, not a whitepaper. ABDM, Poshan Tracker, the RBSK portal. The integration points exist. Here's what we think is possible.
ABDM (Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission)
Engine outputs could feed into ABHA health records as structured developmental screening data. Every screening becomes part of the child's longitudinal health record.
Poshan Tracker
Combined growth and developmental monitoring. Nutrition and development are deeply linked in the first 36 months. Tracking them together tells a more complete story.
RBSK Portal
RBSK's screening is largely paper-based. The engine could serve as the digital scoring layer, adding evidence-weighted escalation and automated regression detection to the existing program. Same questions, smarter scoring.
References
- 1.
RBSK Portal, National Health Mission
rbsk.mohfw.gov.in - 2.
"Validation of RBSK screening tool in Screening of Developmental Delay among under 3-year children in Bengaluru." PMC, 2024.
- 3.
"Validation of Assamese Version of RBSK Tool for Early Detection of Developmental Delay and Autism Spectrum Disorder." PubMed, 2025.
- 4.
National Health Mission RBSK page
nhm.gov.in