Development and validation of an Arabic pediatric sensorimotor development test

Aim

The main concern of Arab rehabilitation therapists is the paucity of a valid clinical assessment tool that fits the demographic and cultural specificities of the pediatric population. This study aimed to describe and validate a localized evidence-based instrument for assessing sensorimotor development in Saudi Arabian children.

Methods

The Arabic Pediatric Sensorimotor Development Test (A-P-SMDT) designed for Saudi Arabian preschoolers was used for 110 children (3–6 years) in this prospective cross-sectional study. The instrument has two constructs: sensorimotor integration and visual perception and visuomotor integration, with 10 themes and 52 items. Face, content and construct validity and internal consistency were calculated. Cronbach’s α was used to test internal consistency. A Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin test and Bartlett’s test of sphericity were used to test sampling adequacy.

Results

Five clinicians and 25 senior clinicians reported good face validity. The content validity index was 3.45, indicating the degree to which the content of the test matches a content domain. The Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.95, indicating excellent internal consistency. The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure for sampling adequacy was 0.80. Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant (chi-square = 3400.43, df = 122, p = .00), indicating that the 10 test domains had a good level of correlation.

Conclusion

The preliminary results on the Arabic Pediatric Sensorimotor Development Test showed acceptable reliability and validity, which could be useful for identifying children at risk of sensorimotor disorders and delays in a mainstream non-clinical population.