Telehealth can assist with providing accessible pediatric occupational therapy services.
Objectives:
This study aimed to investigate the acceptability, inter-rater reliability, and concurrent validity of the Gilboa Functional Test (GIFT) as a video-conference-based graphomotor examination for children (GIFT-Online).
Methodology:
A community-based sample of 157 children aged 3 to 7 years was screened using the GIFT-Online.
Findings:
Inter-rater reliability was excellent (r = 0.97; p < .001; n = 40). In addition, significant correlations were found between the total GIFT-Online scores and the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire 2007 (DCDQ’07), the Little DCDQ (LDCDQ) (r = 0.29, p < .001; n = 157), and the Drawing Proficiency Screening Questionnaire (DPSQ) (r = −0.35, p < .001; n = 157); demonstrating construct and concurrent validity. The online assessment was well received by parents and children.
Conclusions:
The GIFT-Online was found to be an acceptable method of assessing graphomotor performance. Our results support the validity and reliability of the GIFT-Online as a screening tool administered remotely, thereby overcoming physical distancing and travel restrictions.
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2018). Telehealth in occupational therapy [Position paper]. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 72(72), 7212410059p1–7212410059p18. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2018.72S219
2.
BeeryK. (2010). Beery VMI administration, scoring, and teaching manual. PsychCorp.
3.
CamdenC.PratteG.FallonF.CoutureM.BerbariJ.TousignantM. (2020). Diversity of practices in telerehabilitation for children with disabilities and effective intervention characteristics: Results from a systematic review. Disability and Rehabilitation, 42(24), 3424–3436. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2019.1595750
4.
CantellM.HouwenS.SchoemakerM. (2019). Age-related validity and reliability of the Dutch little developmental coordination disorder questionnaire (LDCDQ-NL). Research in Developmental Disabilities, 84, 28–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2018.02.010
5.
Case-SmithJ.O’BrienJ. C. (2014). Occupational therapy for children and adolescents-e-book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
6.
CasonJ. (2012). Telehealth opportunities in occupational therapy through the affordable care act. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 66(2), 131–136. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2012.662001
7.
CasonJ. (2014). Telehealth: A rapidly developing service delivery model for occupational therapy. International Journal of Telerehabilitation, 6(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2014.6148
8.
CasonJ.HartmannK.RichmondT. (2018). Telehealth in occupational therapy. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 72, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2013.67S69
CurtisD. J.WeberL.SmidtK. B.NørgaardB. (2022). Do we listen to children’s voices in physical and occupational therapy? A scoping review. Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 42(3), 275–296. https://doi.org/10.1080/01942638.2021.2009616
11.
DeFauwD. L. (2016). Drawing children into reading: A qualitative case study of a preschool drawing curriculum. Early Child Development and Care, 186(4), 624–641. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2015.1052422
12.
DinehartL. H. (2015). Handwriting in early childhood education: Current research and future implications. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 15(1), 97–118. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798414522825
13.
DurfeeW. K.SavardL.WeinsteinS. (2007). Technical feasibility of teleassessments for rehabilitation. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 15(1), 23–29. https://doi.org/10.1109/TNSRE.2007.891400
14.
ElsaehM.DjemaiM.BouriM. (2020). Tele-evaluation based on quality and quantity of hemiplegic children movements. Journal of Pure & Applied Sciences, 19(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.51984/jopas.v19i1.534
15.
FearsN. E.LockmanJ. J. (2018). How beginning handwriting is influenced by letter knowledge: Visual–motor coordination during children’s form copying. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 171, 55–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2018.01.017
FloresM. A.BarrosA.SimãoA. M. V.PereiraD.FloresP.FernandesE.. . . FerreiraP. C. (2022). Portuguese higher education students’ adaptation to online teaching and learning in times of the COVID-19 pandemic: Personal and contextual factors. Higher Education, 83(6), 1389–1408. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-021-00748-x
18.
GilboaY. (2017). Development and initial validation of the Gilboa functional test (GIFT): A unique measure for preschool graphomotor screening. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 80(11), 660–667. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308022617711670
19.
HallL.HumeC.TazzymanS. (2016). Five degrees of happiness: Effective smiley face Likert scales for evaluating with children. In Proceedings of the 15th international conference on interaction design and children (pp. 311–321). https://doi.org/10.1145/2930674.2930719
20.
HarderL.HernandezA.HagueC.NeumannJ.McCrearyM.CullumC. M.GreenbergB. (2020). Home-based pediatric teleneuropsychology: A validation study. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 35(8), 1266–1275. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acaa070
21.
HashiguchiT. C. O. (2020). Bringing health care to the patient: An overview of the use of telemedicine in OECD countries (OECD Health Working Papers No. 116). OECD. https://doi.org/10.1787/18152015
22.
HavigerováJ. M.JankůJ. (2018). Graphomotor skills of pre-school children: Pilotage of screening scale [Conference session]. Proceedings of EDULEARN 18 Conference, Palma, Mallorca, Spain. https://bit.ly/2YChmY5
23.
HendersonS.SugdenD. (1992). Movement assessment battery for children. The Psychological Corporation; Movement ABC—Batteria per la Valutazione Motoria del Bambino, 2000.
24.
HungK.Goris FongK. N. (2019). Effects of telerehabilitation in occupational therapy practice: A systematic review. Hong Kong Journal of Occupational Therapy, 32(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/1569186119849119
25.
JacobsK.CasonJ.McCulloughA. (2015). The process for the formulation of the international telehealth position statement for occupational therapy. International Journal of Telerehabilitation, 7(1), 21–32. https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2015.6163
26.
KleinE.MontgomeryI.ZwickerJ. G. (2021a). Evidence for pre-printing interventions: A scoping review. Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, 14, 400–436. https://doi.org/10.1080/19411243.2021.1875389
27.
KleinE.MontgomeryI.ZwickerJ. G. (2021b). Theory and evidence for pre-printing development: A scoping review. Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, 14, 357–399. https://doi.org/10.1080/19411243.2021.1875388
28.
KrasovskyT.SilbergT.BarakS.EisensteinE.ErezN.FeldmanI.. . . SarnaH. (2021). Transition to multidisciplinary pediatric telerehabilitation during the covid-19 pandemic: Strategy development and implementation. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4), Article 1484. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041484
29.
LittleL. M.PickettK. A.ProffittR.CasonJ. (2021). Keeping PACE with 21st century healthcare: A framework for telehealth research, practice, and program evaluation in occupational therapy. International Journal of Telerehabilitation, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2021.6379
30.
LuxtonD. D.PruittL. D.OsenbachJ. E. (2014). Best practices for remote psychological assessment via telehealth technologies. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 45(1), 27–35. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034547
31.
MartinoE. M.LapeJ. E. (2021). Occupational therapy in the preschool classroom—Promoting fine motor and visual motor skills for kindergarten readiness. Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, 14(2), 134–152. https://doi.org/10.1080/19411243.2020.1822261
32.
MorleyD.TillK.OgilvieP.TurnerG. (2015). Influences of gender and socioeconomic status on the motor proficiency of children in the UK. Human Movement Science, 44, 150–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2015.08.022
33.
NicolaK.WaughJ.CharlesE.RussellT. (2018). The feasibility and concurrent validity of performing the Movement Assessment Battery for Children–2nd Edition via telerehabilitation technology. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 77, 40–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2018.04.001
34.
NoutsiosC. D.Boisvert-PlanteV.LabergeE.PerezJ.IngelmoP. (2021). The telemedicine-based pediatric examination of the back and lower limbs: A narrative review. Journal of Pain Research, 14, 2959–2979. https://doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S329173
35.
ÖnalG.GüneyG.GünF.HuriM. (2021). Telehealth in paediatric occupational therapy: A scoping review. International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation, 28(7), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.12968/ijtr.2020.0070
36.
PargulskiJ. R.ReynoldsM. R. (2017). Sex differences in achievement: Distributions matter. Personality and Individual Differences, 104, 272–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.08.016
37.
PoderT. G.BellemareC. A.BédardS. K.LemieuxR. (2015). Social acceptance and population confidence in telehealth in Quebec. BMC Health Services Research, 15(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-015-0727-1
38.
ProffittR.CasonJ.LittleL.PickettK. A. (2021). Stimulating research to advance evidence-based applications of telehealth in occupational therapy. OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 41(3), 153–162. https://doi.org/10.1177/15394492211011433
39.
Ray-KaeserS.ThommenE.MartiniR.JoverM.GurtnerB.BertrandA. M. (2019). Psychometric assessment of the French European developmental coordination disorder questionnaire (DCDQ-FE). PLOS ONE, 14(5), Article e0217280. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217280
40.
RihtmanT.WilsonB. N.ParushS. (2011). Development of the Little Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire for preschoolers and preliminary evidence of its psychometric properties in Israel. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32(4), 1378–1387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2010.12.040
41.
SarsakH. I. (2020). Telerehabilitation services: A successful paradigm for occupational therapy clinical services. International Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Journal, 5(2), 93–98. https://doi.org/10.15406/ipmrj.2020.05.00237
42.
ShoomanL. T.RosenblumS. (2014). Drawing proficiency screening questionnaire (DPSQ): Development, reliability, and validity. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 68(6), e227–e233. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2014.011932
43.
SkeltonH.LeclairL. (2019). The early development instrument —Creation of a fine motor/visual motor index. Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, 12(3), 284–297. https://doi.org/10.1080/19411243.2019.1590753
44.
TavernaL.TremoladaM.TosettoB.DozzaL.RenataZ. S. (2020). Impact of psycho-educational activities on visual-motor integration, fine motor skills and name writing among first graders: A kinematic pilot study. Children, 7(4), Article 27. https://doi.org/10.3390/children7040027
45.
TenfordeA. S.BorgstromH.PolichG.SteereH.DavisI. S.CottonK.. . . SilverJ. K. (2020). Outpatient physical, occupational, and speech therapy synchronous telemedicine: A survey study of patient satisfaction with virtual visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 99, 977–981. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHM.0000000000001571
46.
TerweeC. B.BotS. D.de BoerM. R.van der WindtD. A.KnolD. L.DekkerJ.. . . de VetH. C. (2007). Quality criteria were proposed for measurement properties of health status questionnaires. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 60(1), 34–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2006.03.012
47.
ToroT.-D. (2021). Exploring the use of occupational therapy telehealth services in early intervention during COVID-19. Elizabethtown College.
48.
WilsonB. N.CrawfordS. G.GreenD.RobertsG.AylottA.KaplanB. J. (2009). Psychometric properties of the revised developmental coordination disorder questionnaire. Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 29(2), 182–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/01942630902784761
49.
WooK.DowdingD. (2018). Factors affecting the acceptance of telehealth services by heart failure patients: An integrative review. Telemedicine and E-health, 24(4), 292–300. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2017.0080
ZhaiY. (2021). A call for addressing barriers to telemedicine: Health disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 90, 64–66. https://doi.org/10.1159/000509000
