Development of Gross Motor Evaluation for Children Aged 18 to 42 Months

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To test the reliability and validity of the gross motor items making up a new instrument, Hong Kong Comprehensive Assessment Scales for Toddlers (HKCAS-T) for quantifying gross motor development among children aged 18 to 42 months.

Methods

The 37 items were administered to 330 children, including 258 typically developing children and 72 children with gross motor delay.

Results

Rasch analyzes indicated that the fit statistics of the 37 items were within the acceptable range. The assessment was found able to differentiate between typically developing children and those with gross motor delay and among children of different ages. The raw score reliability (KR-20) was 0.94.

Conclusion

The new instrument is a promising alternative for assessing young children’s gross motor development.

KEYWORDS:

• Developmental disabilities
• assessments
• gross motor skills
• children
• psychometrics

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Mr Victor KS Chan in assisting in data collection and Department of Health, Hong Kong for her support for the staff to conduct the study. The authors also thank all the participating families in the study.

Authors’ Contributions

TWP designed the study, collected, analysed and interpreted the data, and wrote the manuscript. BY, TW, CC, C Leung, C Lam and FL designed the study, analysed, interpreted the data and significantly contributed in writing the manuscript. The working group designed the study. All individually named authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Availability of Data and Material

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Disclosure Statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Ethics Approval And Consent To Participants

This research study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethics approval was granted from the Hong Kong Department of Health. Parents of all participating children signed an informed consent before data collection on their children.

Implications For Rehabilitation

• The instrument expands the limited choices for assessing the gross motor development among children aged 18 to 42 months

• The instrument’s 37 items provide a new and useful way to identify children with a developmental disability

• This gross motor assessment is a promising alternative for assessing children in this age range