The feasibility of fundamental movement skill assessments for pre-school aged children

ABSTRACT

Fundamental movement skill (FMS) assessment in preschools allows for early intervention; however it is unclear what assessments are feasible. The purpose of this review is to systematically review the feasibility of FMS assessments for pre-school aged children. The search was conducted across four databases, MEDLINE, Scopus, ERIC and SportsDiscus. Search terms included synonyms of “fundamental movement skills” and “pre-school children”. Inclusion criteria were: (i) FMS assessment; (ii) feasibility data; (iii) assessment of children aged three to six years; (iv) assessment of typically developing children; and (v) peer reviewed full text publications in English. Feasibility concepts (administration time, equipment, space, assessment type, item, training, qualification) were each coded as ‘poor = 1ʹ, ‘average = 2ʹ and ‘good = 3ʹ; potential total of 21. A total of 330 full text articles were considered but a quarter (n = 86) were excluded due to no feasibility data. Sixty-five studies using 13 different FMS assessments were included. The Athletic Skills Track and DEMOST-PRE assessments were most feasible (18/21) and the Test of Gross Motor Development and Movement Assessment Battery for Children were common but among the least feasible (12–14/21). This review allows pre-school staff to choose a FMS assessment based on feasibility. Future studies need to present feasibility of assessments.

KEYWORDS:

• Fundamental movement skills
• feasibility
• assessment
• motor skills
• child
• preschool

Acknowledgments

Prof Jackie Goodway, Prof Wouter Cools, Dr Dylan Cliff, Dr Leah Robinson, Prof Hermundur Sigmundsson, Dr Samuel Logan and Joris Hoeboer.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary Material

Supplementary data can be accessed here.