title: Development of a physical characteristics assessment (PCA): a checklist for determining appropriate computer access for individuals with cerebral palsy.
abstract: The physical characteristics assessment (PCA), a newly developed illustrated checklist, is designed for use by allied health and education professionals to identify a viable method for an individual with cerebral palsy to access a computer. The PCA was developed in response to a documented void of such assessments in the literature. The value of PCA was assessed with respect to content validity, clinical utility, reliability (inter-rater), and opinion of persons with cerebral palsy and health and education professionals. Professionals (n = 72) and persons with cerebral palsy (n = 78) from 20 sites in Canada, Chile, England, Israel, Spain, and the United States participated in the study. Statistically, the PCA produced a highly significant (p < 0.001) assessment time savings compared with non-PCA methods. A statistically significant difference in the number of user/computer interface changes during five post-assessment computer training sessions was not shown between the PCA and non-PCA methods. Inter-rater reliability ranged between 90% and 100% (n = 33 pairs). Both persons with cerebral palsy assessed via the PCA and professionals using the PCA gave positive opinions. Overall results support the value of the PCA.
authors.affiliation: Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Fraser
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bryen
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Morano
mesh_terms: D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014584:User-Computer Interface