Validity of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire to identify young children with gross motor difficulties who require physiotherapy assessment

Abstract

Aim: To determine if the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Third Edition Gross Motor domain (ASQ-3-GM) score is predictive of motor performance on the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) and/or Neurological, Sensory, Motor, Developmental Assessment (NSMDA). Method: This was a cross-sectional study involving analysis of a 1-year consecutive clinical sample of data obtained from children attending a specialist public outpatient service. Participants were 84 children aged 0 to 5 years (mean age 24.9mo, SD 18.4mo; 50 males, 34 females) referred for physiotherapy assessment of gross motor skills in a tertiary child development service. Parents completed the ASQ-3 questionnaire and children were assessed using the AIMS (if aged 0–18mo) and/or NSMDA (all children). To determine possible relationships between ASQ-3-GM scores with AIMS and NSMDA scores, we calculated Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients. To determine validity of the ASQ-3-GM ‘refer for further assessment’ (‘refer’) cut-off score to identify gross motor difficulties we calculated frequency distributions and crosstab analyses. Results: ASQ-3-GM scores correlated with AIMS centile rank (r=0.697, p<0.001) and NSMDA motor performance classification (r=–0.548, p<0.001). The ASQ-3-GM ‘refer’ cut-off had 77% sensitivity, 91% specificity, and 95% positive predictive value (PPV) to identify children that scored ≤10th centile on the AIMS and 57% sensitivity, 92% specificity, and 97% PPV to identify children with at least minimal dysfunction on the NSMDA. Interpretation: The ASQ-3-GM ‘refer’ cut-off score is a valid predictor of gross motor difficulties in young children. What this paper adds: The Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Third Edition Gross Motor domain (ASQ-3-GM) score is valid to identify gross motor difficulties in young children. The ASQ-3-GM ‘refer’ cut-off had 95% positive predictive value (PPV) for children that scored ≤10th centile on the Alberta Infant Motor Scale. The ASQ-3-GM ‘refer’ cut-off had 97% PPV for at least minimal dysfunction on the Neurological, Sensory, Motor, Developmental Assessment.