Content validity of motor coordination questionnaires for parents and teachers

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The term Developmental Disorder Coordination (DCD) has been used to refer to children that, in the absence of neuromotor disorders, present problems to perform daily living activities that require motor coordination. Facing the lack of appropriate motor coordination tests, standardized for the Brazilian children, the process of creation and validation of the Assessment of Motor Coordination and Dexterity (ACOORDEM) was initiated. The instrument is divided in three parts, two parts are based on direct observation of the child's motor performance and the last part consists in two structured Questionnaires, that evaluate functional skills at home and school. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was examine the content validity of the Parents' and Teachers' Questionnaires of the ACOORDEM. METHODS: An expert panel, composed by nine teachers, 11 parents and seven therapists, evaluated the quality of the items in the Questionnaires. The Teachers' Questionnaire is composed by 73 items and the Parents' one has 108 items. RESULTS: The results gave support to the content validity of the Parents' and Teachers' Questionnaires, since more than 87% of the items were considered as presenting good quality. CONCLUSION: As a result of the expert panel the questionnaires were revised, which contributed to item reduction and to confirm the adequacy of the items to the needs of parents and professionals that deal with children with motor coordination problems.