Validity and Reliability of the PROprioception Measurement Tool (PROMT)
Condition: Child Development; Upper Motor Neurone Lesion; Cerebral Palsy; Proprioceptive Disorders
MeSH terms: Cerebral Palsy; Somatosensory Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This project assesses the feasibility, reliability, and validity of the PROMT in children
      with a UMN lesion. The study questions are: is the newly developed PROMT a feasible,
      reliable, and valid tool to assess lower limb proprioception in children with UMN lesions?
      Does the PROMT differ between children with UMN lesion and controlled neurotypically
      developing peers? Further, does the proprioception modalities assessed with the PROMT
      correlate with motor function in this group of children?
    

Detailed description: 
      Somatosensory function is essential to all our movements and activities. This is also the
      case for children with Upper Motor Neuron (UMN) lesions, such as cerebral palsy or acquired
      brain lesions. Especially one category of somatosensory function, namely proprioception,
      seems to play a crucial role in motor control and motor learning. To date, no validated or
      reliable assessment tool exists to assess the different modalities of proprioception in
      children with UMN lesions. Therefore, the investigators designed an Inertial Measurement
      Unit's (IMU)-based outcome measure to assess three proprioception modalities. These are joint
      movement, joint position, and dynamic position sense. With the Unity software, the
      investigators have created a test setting that intuitively guides the tester and the
      participant through the standardised measurement procedures. The aim of this study is to
      investigate the feasibility, reliability, validity, and relevance in correspondence to motor
      function of this newly developed measurement tool.

      The investigators plan to recruit 50 children with and 50 without UMN lesions. The
      feasibility criteria will be evaluated in the group of children with UMN lesions. The
      children with UMN lesions will be tested three times, twice from the same rater and once from
      another rater, to investigate inter-rater and test-retest reliability. To assess the
      relevance of this somatosensory category on motor function in children with UMN lesions,
      specific assessments on the body function, activity, and participation level of the
      international classification of functioning, disability, and health (ICF) will be performed.
      The aged-matched peers will be assessed once with the PROMT.

      The PROMT should allow clinicians to assess lower limb proprioception in children with UMN
      lesions in a child-friendly manner. The analysis of the reliability results should allow to
      measure changes and probable association to motor function can lead us to further research
      questions to supplement the therapy program.
    

Intervention name(s): Proprioception measurement tool
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): No intervention, as it is a psychometric properties study
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Crossover Assignment
Intervention model description: A cross-sectional observational psychometric study with repeated assessments.
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Other