title: Development and evidence of validity for the Children's Hand-use Experience Questionnaire (CHEQ).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the development of the Children's Hand-use Experience Questionnaire (CHEQ), and investigate the evidence of its validity based on test content and internal structure of the three scales in it.
  
  
  METHODS
  The selection of items and questions was based on a literature review, expert opinion, and interviews with families. Data on the final questionnaire were collected from 86 children and adolescents (42 males, 44 females) aged 6 to 18 years (mean 12 y, SD 3 y), with unilateral cerebral palsy, upper limb reduction deficiency, or obstetric brachial plexus palsy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After item reduction and evaluation, CHEQ was designed to include 29 bimanual activities, each rated on three scales of perceived efficacy of the grasp, time taken to perform the activity, and degree of feeling bothered. The appropriateness of the included activities was confirmed by their reported relevance and bimanual nature. The internal structure of the scales was confirmed by Rasch analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CHEQ can be used to assess children and adolescents with a unilateral hand dysfunction on their experiences of using the affected hand to perform bimanual tasks. In clinical work, CHEQ has the potential to become a useful tool for treatment planning and follow-up.
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. annika@skold.pp.se
authors.forename: Annika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sköld
authors.forename: Liselotte Norling
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Hermansson
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Krumlinde-Sundholm
authors.forename: Ann-Christin
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Eliasson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006225:Hand / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires