Selective Control Assessment of the Lower Extremity for Infants and Toddlers (Mini-SCALE): Development and validation of a clinical assessment

Abstract

For many parents of children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP), one of the biggest concerns is how their child will learn to move, stand, and eventually walk. A major reason functional motor skills are difficult for children with CP is a problem called poor selective motor control, the ability to move one joint of the leg without moving others. Selective motor control is essential for coordinated movement, but is often impaired in children with CP.

Until now, there has not been a validated clinical measure of selective motor control for infants and toddlers. That is why this new study is so important. Researchers developed a tool called Mini-SCALE (Selective Control Assessment of the Lower Extremity for Infants and Toddlers) to help clinicians better understand how young children (ages 3 months to under 4 years) are developing selective motor control. To ensure that Mini-SCALE was clear, valid, and useful, a team of 16 experts, including a parent of a child with CP, reviewed it. Mini-SCALE was then administered to 50 children, both with and without CP, along with an established test of motor development while parents participated in the process.