The Pediatric Measure of Participation (PMoP) short forms.

Study Design: Multi-center cross-sectional cohort study.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to develop and validate short forms (SFs) of participation for child- and parent-reported outcomes following spinal cord injury (SCI).

Setting: Three pediatric orthopedic hospitals in the United States.

Methods: The expert panel used calibration data from the pediatric computerized adaptive test (CAT) development study (convenience sample of 381 children and adolescents with SCI and 322 parents or caregivers) to select SF items. The panel selected items for two domains (participation self-relevant to what I want to do; participation friends-relevant to what my friends do), with parent and child versions for each domain. Psychometric analyses included group reliability, Cronbach's alpha, agreement (SFs and item banks), percent of sample with highest (ceiling) and lowest (floor) scores by level of lesion (paraplegia/tetraplegia), and test information function.

Results: Group reliability and Cronbach's alpha values are acceptable (0.74-0.92) and agreement (intraclass correlation coefficients for SFs and total item banks) is strong (0.89-0.95). Floor effects were minimal for people with tetraplegia and paraplegia (0-1.19%). Ceiling effects were minimal for people with tetraplegia (0-3.13%) and slightly higher, but acceptable, for people with paraplegia (8.06-14.02%). Test information function for the SFs was sufficiently high over the range of scores for the majority of the sample.

Conclusion: Pediatric Measure of Participation (PMoP) SFs are acceptable for use when CATs are not feasible.

Sponsorship: The study was funded by the Shriners Hospitals for Children Research Grant 79142 (Mulcahey, PI) and the Boston ROC Grant 5R24HD065688-05 (Jette, PI).