Functional assessment and care of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the relationship between pediatric assessment scores and ratings by parents and teachers regarding the amount of assistance required to complete basic activities of daily living; and to examine the relationship among scores for three commonly used pediatric assessments.


METHODS
Prospective correlational study. 205 children with developmental disabilities. The children ranged in age from 11 to 87 mo and included 72 females and 133 males of diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. The children were evaluated by using the Battelle Developmental Inventory Screening Test, Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM instrument), and the Amount of Assistance Questionnaire.


RESULTS
The test-retest reliability coefficients for items on the Amount of Assistance Questionnaire were found to range from 0.82 to 0.97. Correlations among subscale scores and amount of assistance ratings were highest for the WeeFIM instrument and Battelle Developmental Inventory Screening Test. The highest correlation was between WeeFIM total rating and total amount of assistance rating (r = 0.91).


CONCLUSIONS
Total WeeFIM instrument ratings and severity of disability were the best predictors of amount of assistance ratings provided by parents and teachers.
Ottenbacher
K J
KJ
University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston Texas 77555-1028, USA.
Msall
M E
ME
Lyon
N
N
Duffy
L C
LC
Ziviani
J
J
Granger
C V
CV
Braun
S
S
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015588:Observer Variation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index