title: Pediatric Arm Function Test: reliability and validity for assessing more-affected arm motor capacity in children with cerebral palsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although there are several validated upper-extremity measures in young children with cerebral palsy, none of these primarily assess the capacity to carry out actions and tasks with the more-affected arm. To address this need, we developed the Pediatric Arm Function Test (PAFT), which involves the behavioral observation of how children use their more-affected arm during structured play in a laboratory or clinic. This article evaluates the reliability and validity of the PAFT Functional Ability scale.
  
  
  METHODS
  In study 1, a total of 20 children between 2 and 8 yrs old with a wide range of upper-extremity hemiparesis caused by cerebral palsy completed the PAFT on two occasions separated by 3 wks. In study 2, a total of 41 children between 2 and 6 yrs old with similar characteristics completed the PAFT and received a grade reflecting the severity of more-affected arm motor impairment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In study 1, the PAFT test-retest reliability correlation coefficient was 0.74. In study 2, convergent validity was supported by a strong inverse correlation (r = -0.6, P < 0.001) between the PAFT scores and the grade of impairment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PAFT Functional Ability scale is a reliable and valid measure of more-affected arm motor capacity in children between 2 and 6 yrs old with cerebral palsy. It can be used to measure upper-extremity neurorehabilitation outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1530 3rd Ave South, Room CH415, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA.
authors.forename: Gitendra
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Uswatte
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Taub
authors.forename: Angi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Griffin
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vogtle
authors.forename: Joydip
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barman
mesh_terms: D001132:Arm / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010291:Paresis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results