Validation of the Hong Kong Developmental Assessment Checklist (HKDAC) - Fine motor skills for toddlers: A preliminary study

This paper reported the content validity and the reliability of the Hong Kong Developmental Assessment Checklist (HKDAC) for toddlers. Thirty children aged from 19 to 30 months were recruited using a convenience sampling method. The children's fine motor skills were assessed using the HKDAC, based on age-appropriate items. Ten children were videotaped during their assessments, and their fine motor skills were rated by three therapists to test the inter-rater reliability. Sixteen children were asked to repeat the assessment within 4 days of the first assessment to test the test-retest reliability. A two-way mixed model of intra-class correlation was used to determine the reliability of the HKDAC-fine motor scale for toddlers. The test-retest reliability of the 19- to 24-month-old group (n = 8) ranged from 0.5225 to 0.9809, while that of the 25- to 30-month-old group (n = 8) ranged from 0.1886 to 0.9675. The performance of the subjects on individual items were analyzed. For the group aged 19 to 24 months, the mean score was 10.8 points out of a total score of 22. More than 50% of the children scored "0" on 7 out of the 11 items. For children aged 25 to 30 months, their performance was better. The mean score was 15.0 points out of the total score of 22. We found that the skills assessed for children aged 19 to 24 months were more difficult than those for the older children (aged 25-30 months). Other factors that might have affected the assessments, such as attention span and comprehensive skills, are discussed. The previous assumption that the HKDAC is a criterion reference test appears to be inappropriate. We suggest developing a norm referenced test for use in local settings. Further in-depth study on the construct validity of such a test is deemed necessary.