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01-04-2019 | Original Article

A quick and qualitative assessment of gross motor development in preschool children

Authors: Tanja H. Kakebeeke, Aziz Chaouch, Elisa Knaier, Jon Caflisch, Valentin Rousson, Remo H. Largo, Oskar G. Jenni

Published in: European Journal of Pediatrics | Issue 4/2019

Abstract

There is a need for a quick, qualitative, reliable, and easy tool to assess gross motor development for practitioners. The aim of this cross-sectional study is to present the Zurich Neuromotor Assessment-Q (ZNA-Q), which assesses static and dynamic balance in children between 3 and 6 years of age in less than 5 min. A total of 216 children (103 boys; 113 girls; median age 4 years, 4 months; interquartile range 1 year, 3 months) were enrolled from day-care centers, kindergartens, and schools, and were tested with 5 different gross motor tasks: standing on one leg, tandem stance, hopping on one leg, walking on a straight line, and jumping sideways. All ordinal measures (consisting of qualitative measures and scales) featured a marked developmental trend and substantial inter-individual variability. Test-retest reliability was assessed on 37 children. It varied from .17 for tandem stance to .43 for jumping sideways for the individual tasks, and it was .41 and .67 for the static and dynamic balance components, respectively. For the whole ZNA-Q, test-retest reliability was .7.

Conclusion: Ordinal scales enable practitioners to gather data on children’s gross motor development in a fast and uncomplicated way. It offers the practitioner with an instrument for the exploration of the current developmental motor status of the child.

What is Known: • Measurement of gross motor skills in the transitional period between motor mile stones and quantitative assessments is difficult. • Assessment of gross motor skills is relatively easy.
What is New: • Supplementary and quick gross motor test battery for children for practitioners. • Normative values of five gross motor skills measured with ordinal scales.

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Title: A quick and qualitative assessment of gross motor development in preschool children
Authors: Tanja H. Kakebeeke
Aziz Chaouch
Elisa Knaier
Jon Caflisch
Valentin Rousson
Remo H. Largo
Oskar G. Jenni
Publication date: 01-04-2019
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: European Journal of Pediatrics / Issue 4/2019
Print ISSN: 0340-6199
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1076
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-019-03327-6

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

A quick and qualitative assessment of gross motor development in preschool children

Abstract

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

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