Assessment of Sport and Physical Recreation Participation for Children and Youth with Disabilities: A Systematic Review

TL;DR

This review evaluates tools for measuring sport and physical activity participation in children with disabilities and finds no existing tool fully captures both attendance and involvement.

Contribution

The study identifies a gap in assessments that comprehensively measure both attendance and involvement in sport for children with disabilities.

Findings

Nine assessments were identified, but none adequately measured both attendance and involvement in sport/physical recreation.

Only two assessments were recommended by GRADE for involvement measurement.

Existing tools may measure global participation but lack focus on sport-specific participation.

Abstract

Accurate measurement of participation in sport/physical recreation for children with disabilities is important due to decreased physical activity in this population. This review examines the psychometric properties of relevant assessments. Four databases were searched for studies investigating assessments of participation in sport/physical recreation for children and youth with disabilities. The assessment content was analyzed by the proportion of items relevant to sport/physical recreation and the inclusion of participation elements (attendance or involvement). The evidence quality was evaluated using COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) checklists and summarized according to Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE). Nine assessments (46 papers) met criteria. Only the Children’s Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment measured attendance and involvement. Five assessments measured attendance (12–90% items related to sport/physical recreation) and three context-dependent assessments measured involvement. Only the Measure of Experiential Aspects of Participation and Self-reported Experiences of Activity Settings (involvement) were recommended by GRADE. No assessment adequately measured attendance and involvement in sport/physical recreation for children and youth with disabilities. While existing assessments may continue to be used to measure global participation, a comprehensive assessment of sport and physical recreation should be developed with and evaluated for children and youth with disabilities.

Figures