Psychometric assessment of the French European Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ-FE)

Abstract

Background The Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire’07 (DCDQ’07) is a parent-report measure to identify children at risk for Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). We developed a French version of the DCDQ’07 (DCDQ-FE) that has shown excellent inter-language reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.91) and is culturally relevant for use in European countries. The aims of this study were to examine the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity of the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire-French European (DCDQ-FE), as well as establish a cut-off score. Methods The psychometric properties of the DCDQ-FE were examined with a clinical group of 30 children (mean age: 9.4 years, SD = 2.6) and a control group of 43 children (mean age: 9.1 years, SD = 2.4). Their parents (n = 73) filled out the DCDQ-FE at a first sitting and 70 of them filled it out 38 days later in average for test-retest reliability. The children were assessed using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2) so as to measure the convergent validity of the DCDQ-FE. The cut-off score was determined with an additional sample of 42 children according to scores on the MABC-2 (≥ 16 th percentile) (n = 115). Results and implications Internal consistency of the DCDQ-FE was excellent (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.96) and test-retest reliability was good (ICC = 0.956) with no differences between scores obtained at the two sittings (p > 0.05). Differences in scores between children in the clinical and control groups (Z = -6.58, p < 0.001) provide evidence of construct validity. The correlation obtained between DCDQ-FE and MABC-2 scores (Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient = 0.802, p < 0.001) supports convergent validity. Using a cut-off of 56, overall sensitivity and specificity were 85.0% and 81.6% respectively (area under the curve = 0.896). The DCDQ-FE is a reliable and valid questionnaire for detecting children who are at risk for DCD in a European-French population of children aged 5 to 15 years old.

Psychometric Validation and Reference Norms for the European Spanish Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire: DCDQ-ES

“…In line with previous studies, findings from this further validation work report higher internal consistency values for the DCDQ-ES total scale and for the three subscales [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. Cronbach's alpha values in other validation studies in European, Asian and Latin American populations range from 0.89 to 0.96 [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31], demonstrating that the DCDQ is a reliable tool for assessing motor coordination and probable DCD.…”

“…However, sensitivity and specificity values for the clinical proposed Spanish cut-off were similar with that of the original DCDQ and other cross-cultural adaptations [23,[25][26][27]30,35]. For instance, sensitivity and specificity of the German version of the DCDQ for a clinic sample was 72.7% and 95%, while these values decreased to 30% and 86.7% in a community sample [25].…”

“…The Italian-adjusted cut-off scores resulted in a sensitivity of 59% and a specificity of 65% for a community-based sample [35], but these values increased to 88% and 96% if using a clinical DCD sample [27]. The sensitivity and specificity for Brazilian children is 73% and 86.6%, respectively [26], and the European French values are similar as well (sensitivity = 85%, specificity = 81.6%) [30].…”

“…The DCDQ is a three-dimensional, well-validated and easily accessible measure that was developed in Canada and is aimed at assessing motor performance during daily activities in children aged 5-15 years. In order to use it outside Canada, the DCDQ has been successfully cross-culturally adapted to several languages and countries, including Canadian and European French, German, Brazilian, Italian, Polish, Indi and Latin American Spanish [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31].…”

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Preliminary Reliability of the Adolescents and Adults Coordination Questionnaire into European Spanish

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that DCD-related questionnaires aimed to identify risk of DCD must undergo a rigorous process to ensure its cross-cultural equivalence prior to testing their psychometric properties in the target population in order to verify that the items are culturally relevant, semantically correct and easy to interpretate [ 19 , 20 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Thus, it is necessary to conduct a cross-cultural adaptation of the AAC-Q into European Spanish before performing a comprehensive psychometric validation study and developing reference norms in the Spanish population.…”