Validity and reliability of the Persian ABILHAND-Kids in a sample of Iranian children with cerebral palsy.

Abstract

<b>Aim:</b> To develop a Persian version of ABILHAND-Kids and to determine its reliability and validity in Persian-speaking children with cerebral palsy (CP).<b>Method:</b> The ABILHAND-Kids questionnaire was translated into Persian language and cross-culturally adapted following guidelines. The Persian ABILHAND-Kids was administered to 50 parents of CP children. Among the 50 parents of CP children, 30 of them participated in a test-retest reliability phase. Fifty parents of healthy children participated for discriminative validity.<b>Results:</b> The Rasch analysis indicated the unidimensionality, reliability, and global invariance of the Persian ABILHAND-Kids. The internal consistency reliability was high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.96). Floor and ceiling effects were insignificant (4%). The Intraclass Correlation Coefficients of test-retest reliability were 0.96 and 0.70 for item difficulties and children's measures, respectively. The standard error of measurement and smallest detectable change for CP measure were 11.21 and 31.07%, respectively. The discriminative validity of the Persian ABILHAND-Kids was demonstrated by statistically significant lower ABILHAND-Kids measures in CP children than in healthy children (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Cross-cultural validity between the Persian and original version was established for 19 out of the 21 ABILHAND-Kids items.<b>Interpretation:</b> The Persian ABILHAND-Kids questionnaire is reliable and valid for assessing manual ability in Persian speaking children with CP.Implications for rehabilitationThe Persian version of ABILHAND-Kids is developed and presented as a valid and reliable instrument for use by Persian-speaking clinicians and researchers.It is now possible for the Persian-speaking researchers to participate in international investigations and to compare Persian data with those from other countries.