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Analysis for reliability and validity of gross motor function and health fitness tests for children with
Tae-Hyun Yoon1,2, You-Kyung Mun1, Jong-Sun Lee1
1Research Institute of Sports and Industry Science, Hanseo University, Seosan, Korea.
Insights
Gross motor function and health fitness tests are reliable and valid for assessing children with developmental disabilities aged 9-12. These simple, safe assessments accurately measure physical abilities in this population.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Physical Therapy
- Developmental Disabilities Research
- Sports Medicine for Children
Background:
- Children with developmental disabilities often exhibit challenges in gross motor function and health fitness.
- Standardized assessment tools are crucial for monitoring progress and tailoring interventions.
- Existing research has not comprehensively validated specific tests for this population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the reliability and validity of selected gross motor function and health fitness tests.
- To determine the suitability of these assessments for male children with developmental disabilities.
- To establish the efficacy of these tests in differentiating abilities among children aged 9-12 years.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a pretest-posttest design with 35 male children (age 10.31±1.25 years) with developmental disabilities.
- Assessed strength (grip strength), muscular endurance (modified sit-ups), flexibility (sit and reach), and cardiopulmonary endurance (15-m shuttle run).
- Employed intraclass correlation coefficients, Bland-Altman analysis, Pearson correlation, and ANOVA for reliability and validity analyses.
Main Results:
- The chosen gross motor function and health fitness tests demonstrated adequate reliability parameters.
- Convergent validity was confirmed through Pearson correlation analysis.
- Analysis of variance indicated significant variations among different age groups within the study cohort.
Conclusions:
- The assessed gross motor function and health fitness tests are reliable and valid for children aged 9-12 with developmental disabilities.
- These tests are simple, safe, and appropriate for use in this specific pediatric population.
- The findings support the use of these assessments for evaluating physical capabilities and informing intervention strategies.
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of gross motor function and health fitness assessment tests for children with developmental disabilities. All 35 participants who took part in this study on a voluntary basis were male children (age, 10.31±1.25 years). All selected tests for gross motor function and health fitness assessments were used in previous studies to measure basic physical health and motor abilities, which include strength (grip strength test), muscular endurance (modified sit-ups test), flexibility (sit and reach test), and cardiopulmonary endurance (15-m shuttle run test). Reliability was analyzed using intraclass correlation coefficients in the pretest-posttest and Bland-Altman graphs study. Pearson correlation was used to analyze convergent validity and analysis of variance was used to analyze variations among age groups. Lastly, a correlation analysis was conducted between the tests in gross motor function and health fitness assessments. This study indicates that gross motor function and health fitness assessments have obtained adequate reliability parameters and are able to determine differences in children from 9 to 12 years of age. The tests performed were simple to use, safe, and suitable for children with developmental disabilities.
