title: Reliability and validity of the acquired brain injury challenge assessment (ABI-CA) in children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Acquired Brain Injury Challenge Assessment (ABI-CA) was created to fill a measurement gap and evaluate deficits in advanced motor skills in children with acquired brain injury (ABI). Study objectives were to refine ABI-CA response options and evaluate (i) inter-/intra-rater reliability, (ii) concurrent validity and difficulty level in relation to the Community Balance & Mobility Scale (CB&M) and (iii) administration efficiency of the refined ABI-CA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Measurement study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Phase I involved ABI-CA revisions. Phase 2 consisted of live-/video-scoring of the ABI-CA with 15 typically-developing (TD) children and 15 with ABI (7-17 years) to assess reliability/validity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The revised 20-item ABI-CA displayed excellent reliability for the entire sample (ICCs > 0.90; 95% CI = 0.92-1.00; SEM ≤ 3.60) and within ABI and TD sub-groups. The ABI-CA and CB&M correlated strongly (r = 0.75, p < 0.0001). The ABI-CA mean score (/100) was 11.3 points lower (p < 0.0001) than the CB&M's mean score (/100).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ABI-CA demonstrated excellent reliability and initial evidence of validity. ABI-CA scores were lower overall than the CB&M, indicating the ABI-CA may have greater capacity to evaluate improvements in advanced motor skills in children with ABI. Multi-centre research is needed to confirm the ABI-CA's test-retest reliability and, assuming acceptability, assess responsiveness to change.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto , Toronto , Canada .
authors.forename: R K Y
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McEwan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Finlayson
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Salbach
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kirkwood
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meschino
authors.forename: F V
authors.initials: FV
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D004856:Postural Balance; D011594:Psychometrics; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Children; closed head injury; measurement; paediatric; rehabilitation; traumatic brain injury