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Measuring Gross Motor Function Change in 3- to 24-Month-Old Children With or at High Risk for CP: Validation of the Gross Motor Function Measure-66 Item Sets
Research Team
Principal Investigator: Natalie Koziol
Funding Information
Funding Agency: American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine
Award Date: Oct 1, 2021
End Date: Dec 31, 2022
Abstract
Early diagnosis and delivery of services are essential for maximizing the developmental trajectories of young children with cerebral palsy. Although significant progress has been made, with recent guidance and improvement in diagnostic tools now allowing for children as young as three months to be diagnosed with cerebral palsy, no tools have been adequately validated for measuring gross motor function change in children this young.
This discrepancy in measurement tools significantly impedes clinical and research practice which require monitoring development and response to intervention and evaluating intervention efficacy. There is a critical need for both guidance and evaluative tools to measure gross motor change in very young children with cerebral palsy.
This project aims to develop growth curves that illustrate the normative gross motor development of 3- to 24-month-old children with, or at high risk for, cerebral palsy, and can be used by clinicians and researchers to interpret change.
The study is designed to examine construct validity and responsiveness of the Gross Motor Function Measure-66 Item Sets for use in evaluating gross motor function change in 3- to 24-month-old children with, or at high risk for, cerebral palsy.
Researchers will analyze data from four ongoing or completed studies, including three longitudinal, multisite clinical trials involving children with, or at high risk for, cerebral palsy, and one longitudinal development study of typically developing children. Gross motor function outcomes will be drawn from two timepoints approximately three months apart.
Research & Evaluation Methods, Early Education & Development