The Reliability of the Pediatric Functional Muscle Testing in Children with Developmental Delay

  • Seo, Hye-Jung (Department of Physical Therapy, General Graduate School, Catholic University of Daegu) ;
  • Kim, Joong-Hwi (Department of Physical Therapy, College of Medicine Science, Catholic University of Daegu)
  • Received : 2015.07.23
  • Accepted : 2015.08.18
  • Published : 2015.08.25

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the pediatric functional muscle testing (PFMT) when applied to children with developmental delay. Methods: Sixteen children with developmental delay (seven females, nine males) participated in this study. For the inter-rater reliability, each was scored on the PMFT by two pediatric physical therapists with more than 8 years of clinical experience on the same day. For assessment of the test-retest reliability, one therapist tested the children again within 10 days. The second measurement was performed by taking a first measurement in video. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated to determine the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the PFMT, and Chronbach's alpha was used to measure internal consistency. Results: The results of this study were as follows: 1) The test-retest ICC of the score of the infant action month and the right side of the PFMT was from 0.53 to 1.00 and from 0.63 to 0.99, respectively. 2) The inter-rater ICC of the score of the infant action month and the right side of the PFMT was from 0.66 to 1.00 and from 0.64 to 1.00, respectively. 3) Chronbach's alpha was 0.93. The internal consistency indicated excellent. Conclusion: In conclusion, this study showed that the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the PFMT was relatively high, except for a few items. Therefore, it can be suggested that the PFMT will be a useful tool for measurement of muscle strength for children with developmental delay if it be some modifications.

Keywords

References

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