Validity and Reliability of the Simplified Chinese Version of the Purdue Pegboard Test

Administration of Purdue Pegboard Test (PPT) for fine motor testing among individuals with limited English comprehension is challenging. Translation of PPT into different language versions for use among individuals who speak other languages is crucial for examiner-examinee interactions. This study aimed to translate the PPT from English into Simplified Chinese (PPT-C) and evaluate the PPT-C linguistic content validity and test-retest reliability. Four English language teachers performed PPT's forward and backward translations (Model 32020A) into PPT-C. Ten expert reviewers evaluated the linguistic content validity and 60 university students (1-trial administration (n = 30) and 3-trial administration (n = 30)) participated in the test-retest reliability evaluation. PPT-C showed excellent content validity with Item-Content Validity Index = 0.80 - 1.00, Scale-Content Validity Index/Average = 0.93 - 1.00, and Scale-Content Validity Index/Universal Agreement = 0.25 - 1.00. The 3-trial administration had higher test-retest reliability (moderate to good) with intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) (standard error of measurements (SEMs)) = 0.69 (SEM = 0.88) - 0.81 (SEM = 0.69) compared to 1-trial administration (poor to moderate) with ICCs = 0.33 (SEM = 1.34) - 0.50 (SEM = 1.10). Both 1-trial and 3-trial administrations were likely to be affected by systematic errors, especially practice effects, as they had higher retest scores. Random errors were minimal; all subtests had minimal detectable change percent values within the acceptable range (15.36%-28.36%). Linguistic content validity and test-retest reliability evaluation showed that PPT-C can be used among Chinese-speaking individuals. It is recommended to use 3-trial administration for more reliable evaluation.