Longitudinal Changes in Physical Caregiving for Parents of Children with Cerebral Palsy.

Aims: To determine changes in physical caregiving for parents of children with cerebral palsy (CP) over a two-year period based on children's gross motor function level and age.Methods: 153 parents of children with CP rated their physical caregiving using the Ease of Caregiving for Children three times over two years. Parents and assessors classified children's gross motor function using the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). Physical caregiving was compared at three test times among parents of children grouped by GMFCS level (I, II-III, and IV-V) and age (1.7-5.9 and 6-11 years) using a three-way mixed ANOVA.Results: Among all analyses, a two-way interaction was found between children's GMFCS level and test time on ease of caregiving, p < 0.01. Change over two-year period was found for parents of children in level I and II-III, p < 0.01, but not parents of children in levels IV-V. At each test time, parents of children in level I reported the greatest ease of caregiving followed by parents of children in levels II-III, and levels IV-V, who reported the lowest ease of caregiving, p < 0.001.Conclusions: Findings support evaluation and monitoring of physical caregiving for parents of children with CP over time.

Cross-cultural adaptation of the Arabic version of Self-Care Domain of Child Engagement in Daily Life and Ease of Caregiving for Children measures.

PURPOSE: To cross-culturally adapt the Self-Care Domain of Child Engagement in Daily Life and the Ease of Caregiving for Children to Arabic language and Saudi culture and to examine the reliability of the Arabic version of both measures. METHODS: A modified cross-cultural adaptation procedure was employed. A total 36 children with cerebral palsy (aged 1.5-11 years) and their parents participated in the pilot and final testing steps. A committee of 7 stakeholders evaluated cross-cultural equivalence of both measures. Cronbach's alpha, intra-class correlation coefficient, and minimal detectable change were used to establish internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and distribution-based index, respectively. RESULTS: Minor linguistic, not cultural, adaptations were made in the Arabic version of both measures. Conceptual, item, semantic, and operational types of equivalences were supported. The Arabic version of Self-Care Domain of Child Engagement in Daily Life and Ease of Caregiving for Children demonstrated high internal consistency (0.97 and 0.91, respectively), excellent test-retest reliability (0.99 and 0.96, respectively), and appropriate minimal detectable change values (0.29, 0.43, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The Arabic version of Self-Care Domain of Child Engagement in Daily Life and Ease of Caregiving for Children are reliable and culturally appropriate for use with parents of children with cerebral palsy in Saudi Arabia.