The qualitative motor observations in Movement ABC: Aspects of reliability and validity

The aim of the present project was to study aspects of reliability and validity of the qualitative motor observations in the Swedish version of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (Movement ABC). In total 12 children, divided into three groups, were assessed by 18 experienced physical and occupational therapists. Four of the children were typically developed, four fulfilled the criteria for Developmental Coordination Disorder and four were diagnosed with mild cerebral palsy. A video recording with the 12 children performing two of the eight items of the normative part of Movement ABC were sent to the 18 therapists. The therapists scored the performance of the children according to the guidelines given for the qualitative motor observations. They were informed of the age of the children but blinded to the result of the normative part of the Movement ABC and the children's diagnoses. The inter-rater reliability was moderate to high (ICC=0.75) for the two items together. The total number of observed movement deviations differentiated significantly between the groups of children (p=0.007) supporting the validity of these observations. Further studies are needed in order to extend the knowledge of the usefulness of Movement ABC's qualitative motor observations.