Development of a new tool: progression of paediatric powered mobility- 3PM

Abstract

Purpose

To develop a tool to assess the progression of powered mobility skills for children and determine its psychometric properties.

Method

A three-phase, the mixed-method design included: I) conceptualisation based on international specialists’ input through a focus group or interview to generate initial items; II) tool development using a two-round Delphi survey and III) evaluation of psychometric properties from eight video recordings of children. The Progression of Paediatric Powered Mobility (3PM) was validated via Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) calculated from conventionally powered mobility assessments: the Powered Mobility Program, the Assessment of Learning Powered Mobility tool, and the Powered Mobility Proficiency test.

Results

Content derived from 20 clinical experts led to the development of the first version consisting of 19 demographic and 61 driving skill items. Following two Delphi rounds, the final tool included 14 demographic and 41 driving skill items. Internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach alpha = 0.96) as was the inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.96, 95% confidence interval = 0.95–0.96). Pearson correlation coefficients between the 3PM and other PM assessments demonstrated good convergent validity.

Conclusion

The 3PM, created through international collaboration with experts in PM, has excellent psychometric values as a valid measure that can be used reliably to assess children’s powered mobility skills.

Implications for rehabilitation

• The 3PM reflects the three stages of powered mobility development: exploratory, operational, and functional stages.

• Input from clinical experts in PM mobility contributed to the identification of the key driving skills important to include in the 3PM.

• A reliable and valid tool can facilitate assessment and tailored intervention in paediatric powered mobility.

Keywords:

• Paediatrics
• powered mobility
• powered wheelchair
• assessment

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the members of the focus group, interviews and video assessments: Jackie Casey, Resi Contardo, Heather Feldner, Zohar Filber, Smadar Froedenberg, Jan Furumasu, Cole Galloway, Yael Green, Dikla Haik-Shuvi Avigail Haimovski, Tsafnat Hollander, Lisa Kenyon, Shira Kfir, Vardit Kindler, Anat Lahav, Michelle Lange, Roslyn Livingstone, Tovi Margaliot, Lisbeth Nilsson, Michal Nitsan, Jessica Pederson, Lauren Rosen, Paula Rushton, Andrina Sabet, Aviva Shinnar, Deb Wilson and Osnat Yaniv. We would also like to thank the children who participated in the videos and their parents. We would like to thank Professor Patrice (Tamar) Weiss for her support and editorial expertise in preparing this manuscript.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethics approval was granted by the Internal Review Board at the ALYN Hospital (approval number 021-19). A parent of each child video recorded provided written informed consent after the study procedure had been fully explained; the children gave their verbal assent.

Author contributions

NG and LR contributed to this work including: the conception, design of the work, the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data, and wrote the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Data availability statement

The data generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to policy restrictions dictated by the IRB, but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by ALYN Hospital.