title: Examining content validity and reliability of the Assessment of Children's Hand Skills (ACHS): a preliminary study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We developed the Assessment of Children's Hand Skills (ACHS) to evaluate hand skills using naturalistic observation and examined the assessment's interrater and test-retest reliability.
  
  
  METHODS
  We developed the hand skill framework, performed expert review, and pilot tested the ACHS. The ACHS's reliability was examined by recruiting 54 children (30 typically developing children and 24 children with disabilities).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The test-retest reliability for the ACHS was satisfactory at the individual item level (0.42 < or = kappa < or = 0.79) and the total scale level (Spearman's p = 0.78, p < .01). Moderate interrater agreement of the total scale scores was demonstrated (p = 0.63, p < .01), but individual items exhibited varied interrater agreement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ACHS demonstrated adequate content validity and preliminary reliability evidence and could be used to quantify children's hand skill use. Construct validity should be established in a clinical setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences, Monash University-Peninsula Campus, P.O. Box 527, McMahons Road, Frankston, Victoria 3199, Australia. chiwen.chien@med.monash.edu.au
authors.forename: Chi-Wen
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.forename: Ted
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Rachael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McDonald
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D019370:Observation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires