The second version of the movement assessment battery for children: A comparative study in 7-10 year old children from the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom

Abstract

The Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) is one of the most frequently used instruments for motor assessment in children. The norms for motor performance in the tests of the revised second version of the battery (MABC-2) were established from the study with the representative sample of the United Kingdom (UK) population of children. Assessment of motor function development derived from results of the motor tests in children can be affected by some social and cultural factors. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the suitability of the original norms of the MABC-2 for use in the Czech Republic. METHODS: The results of the MABC-2 in the representative sample of Czech children aged 7-10 years (n = 487) were compared to test performance of the UK normative sample of children (n = 333) published in the MABC-2 Examiner's Manual using the Cohen's effect size and the z-test. RESULTS: Non-significant differences were found in gross motor coordination performance between Czech and UK samples. The Czech girls achieved significantly higher scores in the manual dexterity as compared to the UK sample. Most age groups of the Czech sample showed a significantly higher performance in the balance tests of the MABC-2 than the UK sample. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggested that the original norms of the MABC-2 can be valid for motor assessment only in the 7-8 year old Czech boys. Some adjustments of the UK norms for the manual dexterity and balance tests are needed to use this test battery in clinical, psychological and educational practice in the Czech Republic.