[Assessment on the application of 'Movement Assessment Battery' for Children]

To assess the application of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2), to provide valid tools for developmental coordination disorder (DCD) screening.

A total number of 1823 preschool children from 15 kindergartens in Suzhou city were included in this study regarding the reliability and validity on MABC-2. Data on test-retest reliability internal consistent reliability, content validity and construct validity were assessed, using methodologies as Intra-class Correlation Coefficient (ICC), Cronbach α coefficient, Item-level Content Validity Index (I-CVI) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). When the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ) was considered as the criteria, the criteria-related validity of MABC was assessed, using the area under the ROC curve.

from the study showed that the ICCs of most items were above 0.9 except for 'Drawing and Walking Heels Raised' and 'Jumping on Mats'. The total Cronbach α coefficient was 0.502, with the total Cronbach α coefficient as 0.549 when the two items of 'Drawing and Walking Heels Raised' were deleted. I-CVIs of the eight items were 1.0, 1.0, 0.96, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 0.96, 0.96, respectively. The average I-CVI was 0.985.

from the final CFA model showed that the factor loading of the items was above 0.4 except for the 'Jumping on Mats', while the 'Modification Index' was below 3.84. The areas under ROC curve of the total score on revised-MABC-2 (when the items of 'Drawing and Walking Heels Raised' was deleted) were significantly different from the DCDQ (χ(2) = 110.145, P < 0.001).

In addition to the internal consistent reliability, the validity and reliability of MABC-2 were fair which could be applied well in China. However, some items of MABC-2 should be revised. MABC-2 could be used to screen the children with motor coordination dysfunction at the health care clinics for children, as well as applied in the large-scale epidemiologic studies.