Inter-Intra Rater Reliability, Construct and Discriminative Validity of Iranian Typically Developing Children Handwriting Speed Test (I-CHST) مقاله

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop an Iranian Hand writing Speed Test (I-CHST) for testing of Iranian students aged 8-12. To date, no norms of handwriting speed have been published for hand-writing speed of the Iranian students.Methods: A sample of 400 typically developing Iranian students across four age cohorts was recruited. Among those 400 students 50% were girls and 50% were boys. 73% were studding at government schools and 27% were from the private schools. 79% were right handed and 11% were left handed. The results showed that the handwriting speed assessment test has excellent inter-rater reliability (r=1, p=0.000) and construct validity (r=0.798, p=0.000).Results: The findings showed that handwriting speed increases with age and the rate of increase was found to be greatest among Iranian children aged 8-12. It is also found that the girls aged 11-12 wrote faster than boys of the same age.Discussion: Based on this research, I-CHST was a valid and reliable test for testing the hand writing speed in Iranian children and it could be used for testing or intervention purposes by the therapists at clinics.

Iranian Rehabilitation Journal, Vol. 13, Issue 3, Autumn 2015 Original Article Inter-Intra Rater Reliability, Construct and Discriminative Validity of Iranian Typically Developing Children Handwriting Speed Test (I-CHST) Navid Mirzakhani Araghi* Shahid Beheshti University of medical sciences, Tehran, Iran Negar Miri Lavasani Deakin University, Geelong, Australia Atyeh Javantash Shahid Beheshti University of medical sciences, Tehran, Iran Rama Yasaie American University of Antigua Medical School, San Francisco, USA Zahra Pashazade Azari Shahid Beheshti University of medical sciences, Tehran, Iran Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop an Iranian Hand writing Speed Test (I-CHST) for testing of Iranian students aged 8-12. Based on their investigation and researches, the paediatric occupational therapists or the teachers who are working closely with the families and the school children in Iran, need are liable and valid assessment of handwriting speed that could get information about the Farsi writer children. The results from previous studies of hand writing speed in different countries Researchers Country Language Tool Boys Girls Total Results Tseng, Mei Hui, Hsueh, I-Ping, 1997 Ziviani & Elkins, Taipei, Taiwan Chinese Copy a specified text in 5 minutes copying of symbols, letters 825 700 1525 7. 4 letters 1998 Australia English Graham, Berninger, Test (HPT; Ziviani & Elkins, 1984) 183 189 372 per minute Weintraub and Schafer 1998 Hamstra-Bletz&Blote, America English Copying a paragraph 450 450 900 17-117 words in 1 minute 1990 Netherland Dutch BHK scale ---- ---- 127 24-66 words Methods This study was designed to examine the reliability and validity of the newly developed handwriting speed test for Iranian children (I-CHST) at elementary schools.