Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test: Practical Utility in Occupational Therapy in Children with Cerebral Palsy
Abstract
It is appropriate to use standardized tests with specified reliability and validity for objective evaluation of the motor skills and the others functional capabilities of the upper extremities of children with cerebral palsy. The work provides a basic overview of the significance and utilization of the Canadian standardized test Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test (QUEST) obtained from the findings of recent studies in rehabilitation. 10 probands (9 girls and 1 boy) aged 30 months to 96 months (mean age 71.9 +- 24.87 months) with spastic form of cerebral palsy were tested by occupational therapist, a student of a master's degree of occupational therapy.
For this purpose, an original version of QUEST with an individual license was purchased. The test was translated into Czech language without back translations and harmonization with the original translation.
The benefit of the test is demonstrated in the form of a short case report. It consists of the qualitative evaluation of the functional capabilities of the upper extremities, the demonstration of the presence and range of the functional deficiency of the upper extremities and the direction of the goals and plans of the occupational therapy intervention.
An important limit for Czech practice is the inaccessibility of the Czech standardized version of the test, the determination of psychometric properties and normative data for the reference group of the European population of children with cerebral palsy.