Analysis of the internal consistency of the Portuguese version of the Dynamic Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment for Children (DOTCA-Ch) in students aged 06 to 12 years old

Abstract

Introduction: The Dynamic Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment for Children (DOTCA-Ch) was constructed in 2004 in Israel at Loewenstein Hospital with the proposal to evaluate the cognitive performance of children aged 6 to 12 years old in 22 subtests distributed in five cognitive areas: Orientation, Space Perception, Praxis, Visual-motor Construction, and Thought Operations. For each subtest, there is a structured choice of up to five levels of mediation. Objective: To analyze the internal consistency of the Portuguese version of the DOTCA-Ch battery in students of the municipal teaching system of Santos, São Paulo, Brazil. Method: The study was carried out in partnership with the Secretary of Education of the municipal of Santos, in a school municipal, with 90 students of both genders, distributed between the 1st and 7th grades, evaluations were carried out in the period from August 2015 to November 2016. Data were analyzed by domains, evaluating the internal consistency of the instrument. Results: The Cronbach’s alpha value points to very high reliability (α = 0.92) of the battery in the evaluation of students in regular education. We can identify that they benefit from mediations, especially in more complex cognitive areas such as Praxis and Thinking Operations. Conclusion: The Portuguese version of the DOTCA-Ch battery presented excellent internal consistency for the use of students aged 6 to 12 years old. In this way, a dynamic instrument of reliable cognitive evaluation is available to professionals in the field of Occupational Therapy to be used in evaluations and interventions that consider an integrality of the child, his unique way of thinking and doing.