Agreement in rating items of infant motor development test (IMDT) between physical therapy students and experienced physical therapists
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Date
2011-02-01
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Physical Therapy Association of Thailand
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to examine item agreement of the infant motor development test (IMDT) between physical therapy students and experienced physical therapists. Three of the fourth year physical therapy students participated in the study. After training the test, they independently scored the test items by viewing the videos of 32 infants that were previously scored by five experienced physical therapists. The results were found that 9 of 25 test items had percentage of agreement acceptable (≥ 80%). While 11 of 19 eligible test items showed acceptable Kappa values ranging from fair to excellent (K ≥ 0.4). Additionally, 5 of 6 test times that could not calculated by Kappa statistics showed excellent percentage of agreement (88%-100%). For item agreement of the IMDT test between physical therapy students and experienced physical therapists, 12 of 25 test items had percentages of agreement acceptable. Only 9 of 20 eligible test items showed acceptable Kappa values ranging from fair to excellent. However, 5 test times that could not calculated by Kappa statistics showed excellent percentage of agreement (91%-100%). In conclusion, only 60% of test items showed acceptable agreement between physical therapy students and experienced physical therapy. Clarity of the test criteria and pediatric experience probably affect the reliability of the test. Therefore, to effectively score motor development by the IMDT test, proper training is recommended. Additionally, the test developer should consider some test items that are problematic for both physical therapy students and experienced physical therapists.
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Citation
Thai Journal of Physical Therapy; Vol 32 No 3 2010; 133-146