Measure of Early Vision Use: development of a new assessment tool for children with cerebral palsy

Abstract

Purpose

To report the development of an assessment tool to describe “how vision is used” for children with cerebral palsy.

Method

Measurement development consisted of three steps: (i) an online survey to explore the relevance and comprehensiveness of visual behaviours identified in a previous conceptualisation study; (ii) construction of items and a rating scale for the new measure; and (iii) cognitive interviews to explore comprehensibility and refine the measure in preparation for field testing. Survey respondents were 130 parents of children with cerebral palsy, eight adults with cerebral palsy, and 108 clinicians (n = 246). Nine parents participated in the interviews.

Results

The new tool, the Measure of Early Vision Use, is a 14-item descriptive measure of typical performance of visual behaviours observable in everyday activities, as rated by parent/caregiver observation. Each item is rated on a 4-point ordinal scale.

Conclusions

This new measure is conceptually grounded within the Activity level domain of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as a measure of a single visual ability construct. The target population is children with cerebral palsy, and using parent report the Measure of Early Vision Use describes both strengths and limitations in using vision. This study addressed the selection of items and response options for the new scale, and provides evidence to support content relevance, comprehensiveness and comprehensibility from key stakeholders. Further research will explore psychometric properties and clinical utility.

Implications for rehabilitation

• The ability to use vision in daily activities is relevant to the development and learning of all children, so the availability of a method for describing visual abilities has potential for diverse research and clinical purposes.

• The Measure of Early Vision Use is a parent-report tool that provides a criterion-referenced method for quantifying and describing how children use vision in typical daily activities to support intervention planning.

• Clinicians and parents wishing to measure vision use in children with cerebral palsy can be confident about the rigorous methods used to develop this tool, including consultation with key stakeholders.

Keywords:

• Measurement
• vision
• cerebral palsy
• Measure of Early Vision Use
• validity
• children

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the families and clinicians who contributed to this research, and the organisations who assisted with advertising the survey. BDD and CI are affiliated with the National Health Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre for Research Excellence in Cerebral Palsy (ID 1057997).

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Funding

The first author has received funding support through the Australian Government Research Training Program for her Doctor of Philosophy Programme and a Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation Career Development Grant [CDG7716].