OBJECTIVE. The objective was to determine whether the School Version of the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (School AMPS) is valid when used to evaluate students in different world regions. METHOD. Participants were 984 students, ages 3–13 yr, from North America, Australia and New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the Nordic countries, matched for age and diagnoses. We used FACETS many-faceted Rasch analyses to generate item difficulty calibrations by region and evaluate for significant differential item functioning (DIF) and differential test functioning (DTF). RESULTS. Four School AMPS items demonstrated DIF but resulted in no DTF. CONCLUSION. This study provided support for occupational therapists using the School AMPS to evaluate students’ quality of schoolwork task performances across regions because the School AMPS measures are free of bias associated with world region.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether students with mild disabilities differed from typically developing students in their ability to perform schoolwork tasks. The participants, selected from the School Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (School AMPS) database, comprised 175 students in each group. Their data were subjected to many-faceted Rasch analyses and then analyzed for statistically significant differences in mean school motor and school process abilities between groups. The relative and actual item difficulty calibration values were then compared to identify meaningful differences between groups. The results revealed a statistically significant mean difference in school motor and school process ability between groups (large effect sizes), essentially stable relative skill item hierarchies between groups, and actual hierarchies that differed such that some school motor and almost all school process skill items (occupational performance skills) were more difficult to perform for the mild disabilities group. The results of this study also provided evidence of validity for the use of the School AMPS measures to assist in identifying lower than expected schoolwork performance of students with mild disabilities.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the EQ-5D-3L and the EQ-5D-5L in patients with back and neck pain. Materials and methods: Participants from two independent clinical survey studies was included in this study. In total 164 participants were answering either the EQ-5D-3L or the EQ-5D-5L after their visit to a physiotherapist in primary care for back and neck pain. Rasch analysis was performed to measure the psychometric properties of the two instruments. Main findings: Overall, the EQ-5D-5L showed preliminary evidence of good psychometric properties. The items in both the EQ-5D-5L and the EQ-5D-3L showed acceptable goodness-of-fit indicating unidimensionality for both instruments measuring the concept health-related quality of life. All test persons fit the model, but the person separation reliability and person separation index were only barely acceptable for the EQ-5D-5L. Conclusions:The results indicate that the EQ-5D-5L should be the preferred option when evaluating health-related quality of life with the EQ-5D, especially for patients with back and neck pain.

The results, focused on occupational performance, complement prior research that has focused on examining for gender differences in behaviour, academic achievement, and coordination among students with mild disabilities. These results also suggest that current School AMPS normative values, based on combined gender means, are valid.

BackgroundParticipation in education is a vital component of adolescents’ everyday life and a determinant of health and future opportunities in adult life. The School Setting Interview (SSI) is an instrument which assesses student-environment fit and reflects the potential needs for adjustments to enhance students’ participation in school activities. The aim of the study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the SSI for students with special educational needs in regular high school.MethodsA sample of 509 students with special educational needs was assessed with the SSI. The polytomous unrestricted Rasch model was used to analyze the psychometric properties of the SSI regarding targeting, model fit, differential item functioning (DIF), response category functioning and unidimensionality.ResultsThe SSI generally confirmed fit to assumptions of the Rasch model. Reliability was acceptable (0.73) and the SSI scale was able to separate students into three different levels of student-environment fit. DIF among gender was detected in item “Remember things” and in item “Homework” DIF was detected among students with or without diagnosis. All items had disordered thresholds. The SSI demonstrated unidimensionality and no response dependence was present among items.ConclusionThe results suggest that the SSI is valid for use among students with special educational needs in order to provide and evaluate environmental adjustments. However, the items with the detected DIF and the SSI rating scale with its disordered thresholds needs to be further scrutinized.