Article

The Manual Ability Classification System (MACS) is a newly developed five-level
classification that describes how children with cerebral palsy (CP) use their
hands when handling objects in daily life.
Since the MACS level is to be
determined by asking the parents or someone else who knows the child well, it is
important that the classification is meaningful and easy to understand. The aim
of this study was to investigate the content validity based on parents' and
therapists' descriptions of the children's ability to use their hands in daily
manual tasks. Twenty-five children were represented by a parent and a therapist.
After a short presentation of MACS, the respondents rated the child's MACS level.
Subsequently, in a short interview, they described their thoughts about the
child's ability, the classification, and the scoring process. Parents and
therapists found that MACS gives a good description of how children with CP use
their hands in daily activities. They found the differences between the five
levels meaningful and generally easy to determine. A unique description of the
children's ability at each level confirmed the validity.
This provided evidence
which strengthened the content validity of MACS in a descriptive way. Additional
information complementing the existing leaflet could facilitate the scoring process.

Langue : ANGLAIS