Psychometric properties of observational tools for identifying motor difficulties – a systematic review

Abstract

Background Early identification of children with motor difficulties, such as developmental coordination disorder (DCD), is essential. At present only a fraction of children with DCD are identified. The purpose of the study was to systematically review the literature from 1994 to 2017 on observational screening tools and to evaluate the validity, reliability and usability of the questionnaires used. Methods The review of the literature was conducted to synthesize the data from five electronic databases for children aged 6–12 years. The following databases were searched: Academic search Elite (EBSCO), ERIC (ProQuest), MEDLINE (Ovid), PsycINFO (ProQuest), and SPORTDiscus with Full Text (EBSCO). The studies meeting our inclusion criteria were analyzed to assess the psychometric properties and feasibility of the measures. Results The literature search retrieved 1907 potentially relevant publications. The final number of studies that met the inclusion criteria of our systematic review was 45. There were 11 questionnaires for parents, teachers and children. None of the questionnaires was valid for population-based screening as the only measurement tool. Conclusions There are many challenges in using initial screening tools to identify children with motor difficulties. Nevertheless, many promising questionnaires are being developed that can provide information on functional skills and limitations across a variety of tasks and settings in the daily lives of children with DCD. The review provides much needed information about the current scales used in many clinical, educational and research settings. Implications for assessing psychometric properties of the developed questionnaires and further research are discussed. Trial registration PROSPERO, CRD42018087532 . Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12887-019-1657-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Predictive validity of the 5-item Compliance Questionnaire for Rheumatology (CQR5) in detecting poor adherence of patients with rheumatoid arthritis to biological medication

“…Predictive validity of CQR5 compared to MPR (external dichotomous criterion) in identifying adherence categories was analysed in terms of sensitivity, specificity, area under the curve (AUC), and positive likelihood ratio [36]. For all these variables, 95% confidence intervals (CI) have been considered.…”

The contribution of motor functions to academic achievement in primary school: State of the art and future directions

“…Secondly, systematic screenings which include the motor skills assessment should be encouraged even in kindergarten in order to identify possible children with DCD or milder motor impairment patterns. Concerning this, in their systematic review, Asunta et al. (2019) stressed the need to provide specific observational screening tools (e.g., questionnaires, scales) for teachers because it is in the scholastic environment that motor difficulties are often highlighted in everyday activities (e.g., self-care, the use of scissors, tasks related to artwork) and learning achievement.…”

“…Embracing a multi-stage approach, a preliminary motor efficiency screening based on the use of questionnaires should be recommended even for kindergartners. However, according to Asunta et al. (2019), at present only a limited pool of observational instruments for parents (5 well-validated questionnaires) and teachers (6 instruments) have been developed and culturally adapted for identifying 3–15.6 year-old children with DCD.…”

“…(2019), at present only a limited pool of observational instruments for parents (5 well-validated questionnaires) and teachers (6 instruments) have been developed and culturally adapted for identifying 3–15.6 year-old children with DCD. Asunta et al. (2019) also highlighted that the feasibility of the psychometric properties of the available screening tools for the identification of suspected children with DCD has not been properly examined.…”

“…From an applied viewpoint, since the diagnosis of the DCD is underestimated, screening activities in kindergartners and school-aged children should be encouraged, especially among very-preterm individuals who are particularly at risk for motor impairments (Ouellet-Scott et al., 2020). As suggested elsewhere (Asunta et al., 2019), in order to promote the early identification of children with motor difficulties or DCD, it is first of all necessary to develop experimentally robust screening tools, such as observational scales and questionnaires, designed for teachers and parents. Future research is needed to validate instruments for the assessment of motor skills which show high sensitivity (the ability to detect the occurrence of DCD), high specificity (can correctly identify children without DCD) and that present further crucial psychometric properties (e.g., inter-rater reliability, face validity).…”