Seated postural control measure: Italian translation and validation in children with cerebral palsy.

BACKGROUND

Seating interventions are part of the postural management program recommended for children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) who are nonambulatory or have difficulty in walking. The lack of validated outcome measures for assessing seating interventions limits access to obtain valid and comparable data internationally.

OBJECTIVE

To translate the Seated Postural Control Measure (SPCM) into Italian and assess reliability and validity of the translated measure in a population of children with CP.

STUDY

DESIGN

Cross-sectional and repeated measures study.

METHODS

The original version of the SPCM was translated and culturally adapted by a multidisciplinary team according to international guidelines. Internal consistency was examined with Cronbach's alpha. Both inter- and intrarater reliabilities were estimated using intraclass correlation coefficients with 95% confidence intervals. Intrarater reliability was estimated over a 1-week period. Convergent construct validity was investigated by comparing SPCM values with the Level of Sitting Scale, the Gross Motor Function Classification System, and the Manual Ability Classification System using Pearson's correlation coefficients.

RESULTS

The Italian version of the SPCM (IT-SPCM) was evaluated on 72 children with CP aged 4-18 years. Cronbach's alpha was 0.83, 0.95, and 0.93 for IT-SPCM alignment subscale, IT-SPCM functioning subscale, and total score, respectively. Reliability for IT-SPCM total score was high for both inter- and intrarater reliabilities (0.95 and 0.93). The IT-SPCM total score was moderately correlated with the Level of Sitting Scale (0.37), Gross Motor Function Classification System (-0.41), and Manual Ability Classification System (-0.56).

CONCLUSION

Preliminary evidence supports the reliability and validity of using IT-SPCM with a population of children with CP.