Bimanual ability for brachial plexus birth injury: a validity and reliability study of the ABILHAND-Kids
Kıvanç Delioğlu1, Cigdem Oksuz2, Tüzün Fırat1
1Faculty of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
Insights
The ABILHAND-Kids assessment tool demonstrates excellent reliability and strong validity for evaluating manual ability in children with brachial plexus birth injury (BPBI). This parent-reported measure accurately assesses daily living activities for children with BPBI.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Rehabilitation
- Neuroscience
- Occupational Therapy
Background:
- Brachial plexus birth injury (BPBI) significantly impacts manual ability in children.
- Assessing functional limitations in daily activities is crucial for effective intervention.
- The ABILHAND-Kids is a parent-report questionnaire designed to measure manual ability in children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the validity, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency of the ABILHAND-Kids in children diagnosed with BPBI.
- To establish ABILHAND-Kids as a reliable tool for assessing manual function in this specific pediatric population.
Main Methods:
- Parents of 119 children (6-15 years) with BPBI completed the ABILHAND-Kids for validity and internal consistency analysis.
- Test-retest reliability was assessed by re-interviewing 92 parents after two weeks.
- Concurrent validity was determined by correlating ABILHAND-Kids scores with the Active Movement Scale-Total Score.
Main Results:
- Strong correlation found between ABILHAND-Kids and Active Movement Scale-Total Score (r=0.87, p<0.001).
- Excellent test-retest reliability (ICC=0.93) and internal consistency (alpha=0.94) were observed.
- Significant differences in ABILHAND-Kids scores were noted across Narakas types, indicating clinical relevance.
Conclusions:
- The ABILHAND-Kids demonstrates excellent reliability and strong validity for assessing manual ability in children with BPBI.
- This tool is suitable for measuring bimanual performance and activities of daily living in children affected by brachial plexus birth injury.
Purpose:
ABILHAND-Kids is a structured parent report that assesses manual ability in activities of daily living in children with cerebral palsy, and also brachial plexus birth injury (BPBI). This study investigated the validity, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency of the ABILHAND-Kids in children with BPBI.
Materials And Methods:
The ABILHAND-Kids was administered to parents of 119 children with BPBI between 6 and 15 years for validity and internal consistency, also 92 parents were re-interviewed after two weeks to establish test-retest reliability. Its concurrent validity was examined by correlating scores on the ABILHAND-Kids with Active Movement Scale-Total Score.
Results:
ABILHAND-Kids were strongly correlated with AMS-Total score (p < 0.001, r = 0.87) ABILHAND-Kids test-retest reliability was excellent (ICC: 0.93, %95 CI: 0.90-0.95). The internal consistency for the total score of ABILHAND-Kids was excellent (alpha = 0.94). For 20 items, item-total correlations were adequate (corrected item-total correlations, 0.27-0.85), one item which was "switching on a bedside lamb" had no adequate correlation (corrected item-total correlations, 0.011). The ABILHAND-Kids score showed a statistically significant difference between the Narakas types (p < 0.001).
Conclusion:
The ABILHAND-Kids has excellent reliability and strong validity for measuring manual ability or bimanual performance in activities of daily living in children with BPBI.
