Reliability of the modified Paediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory, Dutch version (PEDI-NL) for children with cerebral palsy and cerebral visual impairment

• CVI is regularly observed in approximately 30% of children diagnosed with the CP.
• There are no reliable and valid instruments available to measure the self-care, mobility and social function in children with CP with CVI.
• It is very important for paediatric physical therapists and occupational therapists to have at their disposal an adapted test which measures the self-care, mobility and social function for children with CVI.
• The CVI adapted version of the PEDI-NL is a reliable instrument for measuring the daily skills of these children.

PurposeThe aims of this study were to adapt the Paediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory, Dutch version (PEDI-NL) for children with cerebral visual impairment (CVI) and cerebral palsy (CP) and determine test–retest and inter-respondent reliability.MethodThe Delphi method was used to gain consensus among twenty-one health experts familiar with CVI. Test–retest and inter-respondent reliability were assessed for parents and caregivers of 75 children (aged 50–144 months) with CP and CVI. The percentage identical scores of item scores were computed, as well as the interclass coefficients (ICC) and Cronbach's alphas of scale scores over the domains self-care, mobility, and social function.ResultsAll experts agreed on the adaptation of the PEDI-NL for children with CVI. On item score, for the Functional Skills scale, mean percentage identical scores variations for test–retest reliability were 73–79 with Caregiver Assistance scale 73–81, and for inter-respondent reliability 21–76 with Caregiver Assistance scale 40–43. For all scales over all domains ICCs exceeded 0.87. For the domains self-care, mobility, and social function, the Functional Skills scale and the Caregiver Assistance scale have Cronbach's alpha above 0.88.ConclusionThe adapted PEDI-NL for children with CP and CVI is reliable and comparable to the original PEDI-NL.