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. 2012 Dec;91(12):1060-9.
doi: 10.1097/PHM.0b013e318269ec76.

Pediatric Arm Function Test: reliability and validity for assessing more-affected arm motor capacity in children with cerebral palsy

Gitendra Uswatte  1 , Edward Taub, Angi Griffin, Jan Rowe, Laura Vogtle, Joydip Barman
Affiliations

Pediatric Arm Function Test: reliability and validity for assessing more-affected arm motor capacity in children with cerebral palsy

Gitendra Uswatte et al. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2012 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: Although there are several validated upper-extremity measures in young children with cerebral palsy, none of these primarily assess the capacity to carry out actions and tasks with the more-affected arm. To address this need, we developed the Pediatric Arm Function Test (PAFT), which involves the behavioral observation of how children use their more-affected arm during structured play in a laboratory or clinic. This article evaluates the reliability and validity of the PAFT Functional Ability scale.

Design: In study 1, a total of 20 children between 2 and 8 yrs old with a wide range of upper-extremity hemiparesis caused by cerebral palsy completed the PAFT on two occasions separated by 3 wks. In study 2, a total of 41 children between 2 and 6 yrs old with similar characteristics completed the PAFT and received a grade reflecting the severity of more-affected arm motor impairment.

Results: In study 1, the PAFT test-retest reliability correlation coefficient was 0.74. In study 2, convergent validity was supported by a strong inverse correlation (r = -0.6, P < 0.001) between the PAFT scores and the grade of impairment.

Conclusions: The PAFT Functional Ability scale is a reliable and valid measure of more-affected arm motor capacity in children between 2 and 6 yrs old with cerebral palsy. It can be used to measure upper-extremity neurorehabilitation outcome.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures:

Financial disclosure statements have been obtained, and no conflicts of interest have been reported by the authors or by any individuals in control of the content of this article.

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