Abstract
Purpose::
To develop and validate a questionnaire that assays the functional impact of visuomotor deficits in children with cerebral palsy (CP).
Methods::
Parents of 131 children with CP (mean age: 8.2 yr), followed in a cross-sectional observational study, completed a 23 item questionnaire graded using Likert scales. Ophthalmologic and neurologic deficits were cataloged by clinical examinations, and the Gross Motor Function Classification Scale (1-5, 1= mild, 5 = severe) was used to grade motor impairment (the patient population studied distributed uniformly throughout grades of GMFCS). Questionnaire subscales probed: eye contact, tracking, recognition, finding and avoiding, judging depth, and reading. Scores were analyzed for internal consistency, and reliability assessed by comparing scores to the severity of clinical visuomotor deficits, including logMAR acuity.
Results::
The composite and subscale scores showed good reliabilities, ranging from 0.7 to 0.93 (scale 0 to 1.0; Cronbach Coefficient Alpha). Strong correlation was found with severity of motor (r2 =0.49, p < 0.01) and visual (r2 =0.67, p < 0.01) impairment. Scores did not correlate significantly with age, sex or race. Average time required for completion of the questionnaire was ≤ 6 min.
Conclusions::
The brevity, scope and psychometric strength of the CP visuomotor questionnaire supports its use for measuring disease-burden in clinical practice and in research.
Keywords: infant vision • neuro-ophthalmology: cortical function/rehabilitation • strabismus