Article

AIM: To describe the development of the Mini-Assisting Hand Assessment (Mini-AHA)
for children with signs of unilateral cerebral palsy (CP) aged 8 to 18 months,
and evaluate aspects of content and internal scale validity. METHOD: The ability
of the video-recorded Mini-AHA play session to provoke bimanual performance in
children with unilateral CP and typical development was evaluated. Original AHA
test items were examined for their suitability for younger children and possible
new items were generated.
Data from 108 assessments of children with unilateral
CP (86 children, 53 males, 33 females; mean age 13mo, SD 3mo, range 8-18mo) were
entered into a Rasch measurement model analysis to evaluate internal scale
validity. A Spearman's correlation analysis explored the relationship between age
and ability measures for children with unilateral CP. The frequency of maximum
scores in 40 children with typical development (22 males, 18 females; mean age
12mo, SD 3mo) was examined. RESULTS: The Mini-AHA play session provoked bimanual
responses in typically developing children 99% of the time. Person and item fit
criteria established 20 items for the scale. The resultant unidimensional scale
also demonstrated excellent discriminative features through high separation
reliability. The item calibration values covered the range of person ability
measures well. Age was not related to the ability measures for children with
unilateral CP (rs =0.178). All children with typical development achieved maximum
scores. INTERPRETATION: Accumulated evidence shows that the Mini-AHA validly
measures use of the affected hand during bimanual performance for children with
unilateral CP aged 8 to 18 months. The Mini-AHA has the potential to be a useful
assessment to evaluate functional hand use and the effects of intervention in an
age group when potential for change is high.
CI - (c) 2013 Mac Keith Press.

Langue : ANGLAIS