Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 9, 2025
Measurements of Motor Function and Other Clinical Outcome Parameters in Ambulant Children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Published on: January 12, 2019
Reliability and validity of pediatric powered mobility outcome measures
Naomi Gefen1,2, Amihai Rigbi3, Patrice L Tamar Weiss2
1ALYN Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel.
Insights
This study found that the Powered Mobility Program (PMP) and the Israel Ministry of Health Powered Mobility Proficiency Test (PM-PT) demonstrate excellent reliability and validity for assessing powered wheelchair skills in children with physical disabilities.
Area of Science:
- Rehabilitation Medicine
- Pediatric Physical Therapy
- Assistive Technology
Background:
- Reliable and valid outcome measures are crucial for assessing the proficiency of children using powered mobility devices.
- Existing measures may lack sufficient psychometric evidence for this population.
- Powered mobility devices significantly enhance independence and participation for children with physical disabilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the Powered Mobility Program (PMP) and the Israel Ministry of Health Powered Mobility Proficiency Test (PM-PT).
- To assess the inter-rater reliability of the Assessment of Learning Powered Mobility (ALP) tool.
- To determine the convergent validity of these three measures for children with physical disabilities.
Main Methods:
- Thirty children (mean age 10 years 6 months; range 6-18 years) with cerebral palsy and other neuromuscular disorders participated.
- Participants were non-proficient powered wheelchair drivers assessed via the PMP, ALP, and PM-PT.
- Two blinded raters evaluated driving ability from videos using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC2,1) for reliability and Spearman correlation coefficients for validity.
Main Results:
- The PMP demonstrated excellent intra-rater reliability (ICCs 0.97-0.98) and good to excellent inter-rater reliability (ICCs 0.87-0.94).
- The PM-PT showed good to excellent intra-rater (ICCs 0.89-0.96) and inter-rater reliability (ICCs 0.87-0.91).
- The ALP had good inter-rater reliability (ICC 0.83), and all measures exhibited good to excellent convergent validity (rs 0.87-0.96).
Conclusions:
- The PMP, PM-PT, and ALP are reliable and valid tools for assessing powered wheelchair proficiency in children aged 6-18 years.
- These validated measures provide essential empirical evidence previously lacking for this population.
- The shorter PM-PT can be utilized when assessment time is limited, offering a practical alternative to the comprehensive PMP.
Purpose:
To determine the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the Powered Mobility Program (PMP) and the Israel Ministry of Health Powered Mobility Proficiency Test (PM-PT); to test inter-rater reliability of the Assessment of Learning Powered Mobility (ALP) tool; to determine the convergent validity of these measures for children with physical disabilities.
Materials And Methods:
Participants included 30 children (mean 10 years, 6 months [SD 3 years, 7 months]; range: 6-18 years) with cerebral palsy and other neuromuscular disorders. Participants were non-proficient powered wheelchair drivers. Two blinded raters assessed the driving ability by viewing videos of the participants twice as they drove a pre-designed route at ALYN Hospital, Israel. They were assessed via the PMP, ALP and PM-PT outcome measures. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC2,1) were used to test intra-rater and inter-rater reliability and Spearman correlation coefficients were used to assess convergent validity.
Results:
The PMP intra-rater reliability revealed ICCs2,1 of coefficients were 0.97/0.98 for both raters. For the PM-PT the ICC2,1 was 0.89/0.96 for both raters. The PMP inter-rater reliability ICC2,1 was 0.94/0.87 for the two tests, for the PM-PT the ICC2,1 was 0.91/0.87 for the two tests and for the ALP the ICC2,1 was 0.83. The convergent validity between the PMP and the PM-PT was rs=0.96, between the PMP and ALP was rs=0.89 and between the PM-PT and ALP was rs=0.87.
Conclusions:
The PMP and PM-PT intra and interrater reliability were good to excellent, the ALP inter-rater reliability was good and the convergent validity between all three measures was good to excellent.Implications for rehabilitationThere is evidence of validity and reliability for three tests of powered wheelchair proficiency (PMP, PM-PT and ALP).Children using powered mobility, aged 6-18 years, now have outcome measures with empirical evidence that was previously lacking.When time for assessment is limited, the shorter PM-PT can be used instead of the more comprehensive PMP.
