CROSS-CULTURAL VALIDATION OF THE ACTIVITIES SCALE FOR KIDS PERFORMANCE VERSION: PROOF OF RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY IN ITALIAN CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY

Physical functioning is crucial to participation in life activities and it should always be accurately assessed in children with cerebral palsy, as it is a key element in the rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities. The Activities Scale for Kids (ASK) is one of the few reliable and responsive outcome measures that allows children and adolescents to accurately report their physical functioning in typical activities for this age. The performance version of the ASK has recently been translated and culturally adapted to the Italian context and, in its original language, is currently used to assess children with cerebral palsy, although its psychometric properties have never been investigated in a wide sample of this population. This PhD Thesis has been implemented to validate the Italian ASK performance version in children with cerebral palsy. Three cross-sectional studies were carried out to: a) provide a description of the ASKp score distribution in a population of 209 Italian healthy school aged individuals, b) test its internal consistency and construct validity in a population of 206 children with cerebral palsy; c) collect evidence of construct convergent validity of the ASKp in a population of 60 children with cerebral palsy, by comparing its results with the 66-item Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM-66) and with the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) and testing the ASKp’s ability to discriminate between individuals with different functional capabilities. In conclusion, the ASKp is valid to assess physical functioning, a crucial domain in the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy.