Construct and concurrent validity of test of infants’ daily living activities

TL;DR

This study validates a new test for identifying motor development delays in infants, showing it works well alongside an existing reference scale.

Contribution

The study provides empirical validation of the Test of Infants’ Daily Living Activities as a reliable tool for assessing motor development.

Findings

The Test of IDLA strongly correlates with the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (rho = 0.72, p < 0.0001).

The Test of IDLA shows very good diagnostic capability with an AUC of 0.928.

Results indicate the Test of IDLA is stable and repeatable in clinical settings.

Abstract

Delays in psychomotor development in children could be an early indicator of elevated risk for developmental disorders. Early functional diagnostics enables the identification of abnormalities in various developmental domains and contributes to the initiation of specialized neurodevelopmental diagnostics. The objective of this study was to assess the construct and concurrent validity of the Test of Infants’ Daily Living Activities. The focus was on identifying the construct validity of the Test of IDLA, demonstrating the concurrent validity of the Test of IDLA in relation to the Alberta Infant Motor Scale, as well as determining the predictive value of the Test of IDLA in assessing the development of postural and motor control in infants.

The study included 357 children aged 1–18 months. Each child was thoroughly evaluated using the AIMS scale, in accordance with the methodology of the diagnostic tool’s usage, and the Test of IDLA, which involved a postural control assessment sheet and a motor control evaluation sheet.

Comparison of Test of IDLA results with the reference AIMS scale demonstrated a statistically significant, positive correlation, with Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient rho = 0.72, p < 0.0001. A very strong relationship between both scales was also indicated by the Cramer’s V result = 0.78 and χ2 (1, n = 357) = 217.518. The area under the ROC curve value (AUC = 0.928) indicated very good diagnostic capability of the Test of IDLA. The narrow confidence interval (0.897–0.953) and low standard error (0.0147) emphasized the stability and repeatability of Test of IDLA results under clinical conditions.

The Test of IDLA demonstrates high concordance with the reference AIMS scale in identifying motor developmental delays in children, in the domains of postural control and motor control. These findings indicate the utility of the Test of IDLA in the screening identification of neurodevelopmental disorders.

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