Reliability and cross-cultural validation of the Turkish version of Manual Ability Classification System (MACS) for children with cerebral palsy.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the reliability and cross-cultural validation of the Turkish translation of the Manual Ability Classification System (MACS) for children with cerebral palsy (CP) and to investigate the relation to gross motor function and other comorbidities.


METHODS
After the forward and backward translation procedures, inter-rater and test-retest reliability was assessed between parents, physiotherapists and physicians using the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Children (N = 118, 4 to 18 years, mean age 9 years 4 months; 68 boys, 50 girls) with various types of CP were classified. Additional data on the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), intellectual delay, visual acuity, and epilepsy were collected.


RESULTS
The inter-rater reliability was high; the ICC ranged from 0.89 to 0.96 among different professionals and parents. Between two persons of the same profession it ranged from 0.97 to 0.98. For the test-retest reliability it ranged from 0.91 to 0.98. Total agreement between the GMFCS and the MACS occurred in only 45% of the children. The level of the MACS was found to correlate with the accompanying comorbidities, namely intellectual delay and epilepsy.


CONCLUSIONS
The Turkish version of the MACS is found to be valid and reliable, and is suggested to be appropriate for the assessment of manual ability within the Turkish population.
Akpinar
Pinar
P
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Goztepe Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. pinar.pinarakpinar@gmail.com
Tezel
Canan G
CG
Eliasson
Ann-Christin
AC
Icagasioglu
Afitap
A
D000293:Adolescent; D001076:Aptitude / Q000145:classification; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000145:classification* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000145:classification*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008370:Manuals as Topic; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000145:classification*; D015588:Observer Variation; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014421:Turkey