Concurrent Validity of the Bayley-III and the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2 at 18 Months

Area of Science:

• Developmental Pediatrics
• Motor Development Assessment
• Infant and Toddler Development

Background:

• Accurate assessment of motor development is crucial for early intervention in infants and toddlers.
• The Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, 3rd edition (Bayley-III) and Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, 2nd edition (PDMS-2) are widely used tools.
• Understanding the concurrent validity between these instruments is important for clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the concurrent validity between the Bayley-III and PDMS-2 in preterm children.
• To compare the motor domain scores (total, gross, and fine) between the two assessments.
• To evaluate the agreement in classifying motor impairment between the Bayley-III and PDMS-2.

Main Methods:

• Administered the Bayley-III and PDMS-2 to 184 preterm children at 18 months corrected age.
• Calculated standard scores for total, gross, and fine motor domains for each assessment.
• Used cross-tabulation and Pearson correlation coefficients (r) to analyze concurrent validity.

Main Results:

• High correlations were observed between total motor (r=0.88), gross motor (r=0.88), and fine motor (r=0.79) scores.
• Both assessments showed 93% agreement in classifying motor impairment.
• Discrepancies were noted, with the Bayley-III identifying more children with severe delays (2SD below the mean) compared to the PDMS-2.

Conclusions:

• The Bayley-III and PDMS-2 demonstrate strong concurrent validity for assessing motor development in preterm infants.
• Clinicians should be aware of the potential for differing results when using each assessment, particularly in identifying the severity of motor delays.
• Awareness of concurrent validity aids in informed clinical decision-making and intervention planning.