Evaluation of a parent-report diary of the home use of assistive devices by young children with cerebral palsy

Abstract

Purpose: To develop and evaluate the preliminary measurement properties of a parent-report diary of the home use of seating and mobility devices by young children with cerebral palsy (CP).

Method: Four AT experts reviewed the home use of technology for children (HUTCH) diary to confirm its coverage of AT devices, and six parents of young children with CP examined its content, wording and organization. A random sample of 12 other parents independently completed a HUTCH diary daily for 1 week to record their child's use of seating, mobility and orthotic devices at home. Two to three weeks later, parents completed a second diary of AT device use over another seven consecutive days.

Results: The face validity, content validity and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.91; 95% CI = 0.69-0.97) of the HUTCH were very good. Parents reported that they completed the diary quickly and easily.

Conclusions: The HUTCH diary shows promise as a reliable and practical way to record the frequency and number of hours that children use different types of seating and mobility-related devices at home. Testing the concurrent validity of the HUTCH diary against an acceptable criterion measure will improve its acceptance as measure of AT device use.