Reliability and validity of a computer game-based tool of upper extremity assessment for object manipulation tasks in children with cerebral palsy

Anuprita Kanitkar; Sanjay T Parmar; Tony J Szturm; Gayle Restall; Gina Rempel; Nilashri Naik; Neha Gaonkar; Nariman Sepehri; Bhavana Ankolekar

doi:10.1177/20556683211014023

Reliability and validity of a computer game-based tool of upper extremity assessment for object manipulation tasks in children with cerebral palsy

J Rehabil Assist Technol Eng. 2021 Jun 2:8:20556683211014023. doi: 10.1177/20556683211014023. eCollection 2021 Jan-Dec.

Authors

Anuprita Kanitkar¹, Sanjay T Parmar², Tony J Szturm³, Gayle Restall³, Gina Rempel⁴, Nilashri Naik⁵, Neha Gaonkar⁶, Nariman Sepehri⁷, Bhavana Ankolekar⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
² SDM College of Physiotherapy, Shri Dharamshala Manjunatheshwara University, Dharwad, India.
³ College of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
⁴ Pediatrics & Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
⁵ Department of Physiotherapy, Ushas School for Exceptional Children, Hubli, India.
⁶ SDM College of Physiotherapy, Dharwad, India.
⁷ Faculty of Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

Abstract

Introduction: A computer game-based upper extremity (CUE) assessment tool is developed to quantify manual dexterity of children with Cerebral Palsy (CP). The purpose of this study was to determine test-retest reliability of the CUE performance measures (success rate, movement onset time, movement error, and movement variation) and convergent validity with the Peabody Developmental Motor Scale version 2 (PDMS-2) and the Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test (QUEST).

Methods: Thirty-five children with CP aged four to ten years were tested on two occasions two weeks apart.

Results: CUE performance measures of five chosen object manipulation tasks exhibited high to moderate intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) values. There was no significant difference in the CUE performance measures between test periods. With few exceptions, there was no significant correlation between the CUE performance measures and the PDMS-2 or the QUEST test scores.

Conclusions: The high to moderate ICC values and lack of systematic errors indicate that the CUE assessment tool has the ability to repeatedly record reliable performance measures of different object manipulation tasks. The lack of a correlation between the CUE and the PDMS-2 or QUEST scores indicates that performance measures of these assessment tools represent distinct attributes of manual dexterity.

Keywords: Cerebral palsy; children; computer game-based assessment; manual dexterity; telemonitoring; telerehabilitation.