title: Psychometric properties of a motor skill checklist for 3- to 5-year-old children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Early identification of children with developmental co-ordination disorder is important. Teachers may be very useful in this identification process. The objective of this study was to develop a motor skill checklist (MSC) for 3- to 5-year-old children to be completed by teachers, and to establish the psychometric properties of this new instrument.
  
  
  METHODS
  An MSC of 28 functional items was constructed in close consideration with clinical experts and teachers. In regular schools, 366 pre-school children were rated with the MSC by their teachers (n= 111). To determine test-retest reliability, each teacher completed 4 weeks later the MSC again for one randomly selected child. In 22 classes with two teachers sharing the job, both teachers were asked to fill in the questionnaire. A subgroup of children was also tested with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC; n= 122). All teachers were invited to complete a questionnaire to evaluate the MSC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The internal consistency of the MSC was high. The test-retest reliability was good. Inter-rater reliability was adequate except in the 5-year-old children. There was a strong correlation between the checklist and the M-ABC, establishing concurrent validity. Most teachers judged the MSC as easy or rather easy to complete.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The MSC is a reliable, valid and useful instrument to identify and assess young children with motor difficulties.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy Ghent, University College Arteveldehogeschool-Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, Ghent, Belgium. wim.peersman@ugent.be
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Peersman
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Carton
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cambier
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: De Maeseneer
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: van Waelvelde
mesh_terms: D057189:Checklist / Q000191:economics; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D009048:Motor Skills; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D009068:Movement; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results