Tests & Measures: A Resource for Pediatric Physical Therapy Practitioners

Children’s Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE); Update

I have reviewed the information provided in the original post, and all the details provided are up to date.

Article summary using CAPE.

Potvin, M.-C., Snider, L., Prelock, P., Kehayia, E., & Wood-Dauphinee, S. (2013). Children’s Assessment of Participation and  Enjoyment/Preference for Activities of Children: Psychometric properties in a population with high-functioning autism. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 67, 209–217.

 

This study was done as part of a cross sectional analysis to examine activity and recreational participation in children with High-Functioning Autism(HFA). 61 participants were included in this study ranging in age from 7 to 13; of the 61 participants, 30 were were HFA(26 male and 4 female) and 31 were peers(control)(27 male and 4 female) from the same community without HFA. To be included in this study, the childern with HFA had to be currently  diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder(ASD), have an IQ >79, able to speak English, and did not have any other neurodevelopmental diagnosis. The peer/control group had to meet the same criteria, minus a diagnosis of ASD. Children were recruited through various sources including word of mouth, health department, support groups and therapists. The data collection took place over two to three visits, in order to to allow the clinician to develop rapport, administer various a clinical measures and to test the test/re-test reliability for this population.

The test retest reliability was found to be >.7 for all aspects of the CAPE for the HFA group with the exception of social aspects. Parents reviewed their child’s self reported assessment on the CAPE and 86% of the parents in the HFA group and 83% of parents in the child peer group agreed with their child’s answers. Of the children in the HFA group that participated in the third session(14) only 2 additional activities not on the CAPE were stated by the children that they participate in an a regular basis. Significantly more assistance was required by the parents for the children in the HFA group on the factual information(intensity, social
aspect, and location) (p<.001), but there was no statistical significance in the difference in the factual information provided by the children versus provided by the parents. This study supports the use of the CAPE for children with HFA on the grounds that it seems to incorporate most activities these children participate in, the test/re-test reliability is fair, and accuracy of answers provided by children. As long as additional research confirms the data found from this small study, I feel like this would be a good tool to find out various activities that children with HFA are interested in as a way to assist treatment progression.