Sensory Profile Assessment Tool for Children 0 – 36 months of Age, Thai Version

Abstract

Background: Sensory processing is important for children in their cognitive development, sensorimotor skill, motor planning, language, emotion, including social skill. If children had sensory processing dysfunction, these development and skills might be affected and then impacted children’s occupational performance. Lack of reliability and validity of the sensory processing assessment tool for Thai children was still commonly found in Thailand.

Objectives : This developmental research was to develop the Sensory Profile Assessment Tool for assessing sensory processing of children from birth to 36 months old in Thai version and to examine its psychometric properties; content validity, test-retest reliability and internal consistency.

Methods: The Sensory Profile was translated from original version to target version by the researchers. Two experts in occupational therapy conducted the back translation process on the target version and then examined for its content validity evidence by three occupational therapists who had at least 3 years using the sensory integrative approach for their clinical practice. The index of Item Objective Congruence (IOC) on each item was calculated and the items that showed over 0.5 of IOC were constituted for the target version of the sensory profile assessment tool. Afterward, the examination of 2 types reliability; internal consistency and test-retest reliability, was conducted in parents of 30 infants with birth to 6 months of age and 30 children with 7 to 36 months of age. These parents were recruited from the well baby clinics of Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital.

Results: The panel experts resulted in the establishment of content validity of the Sensory Profile Assessment Tool for Children from Birth to 36 Months Old, Thai Version with IOC over 0.5 of all items. Using an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to examine test-retest reliability, the Sensory Profile Assessment Tool for Children from Birth to 6 Months Old, Thai Version had shown an excellent test-retest reliability (ICC = .92) and the Sensory Profile Assessment Tool for Children from from 7 to 36 Months Old, Thai Version had shown an excellent test-retest reliability (ICC = .89). The analysis of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient revealed the high internal consistency of the Sensory Profile Assessment Tool for Children from Birth to 6 Months Old, Thai Version (α = .74) and of the Sensory Profile Assessment Tool for Children from 7 to 36 Months Old, Thai Version in all areas (α = .92). Internal consistency reliability of each sensory processing in the Sensory Profile Assessment Tool for Children from Birth to 6 Months Old, Thai Version was within the acceptable range (.41-.70) for tactile processing, vestibular processing, and visual processing (α =.60, .53, .42, respectively), except auditory processing (α = .38). Internal consistency reliability of each sensory processing in the Sensory Profile Assessment Tool for Children from 7 to 36 Months Old, Thai Version was within the high range (> 0.7) for tactile processing (α =.90), and was within the acceptable range for vestibular processing, oral processing, auditory processing, and visual processing (α =.70, .66, .65, and .61, respectively).

Conclusion: The Sensory Profile Assessment Tool for Children from Birth to 36 Months Old, Thai Version has known to be reliable and valid.