Beth Sprunt1, Monsurul Hoq1, Umesh Sharma2, Manjula Marella1. 1. a Nossal Institute for Global Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health , The University of Melbourne , Carlton , Australia. 2. b Faculty of Education , Monash University , Clayton , Australia.
Abstract
PURPOSE: This study investigated the seeing, hearing and walking questions of the UNICEF/Washington Group Child Functioning Module and the inter-rater reliability between teachers and parents as proxy respondents. METHODS: Cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study, two-gate design with representative sampling, comparing Module responses to reference standard assessments for 472 primary aged students in Fiji. Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed to determine the area under the curve and optimal cut-off points. RESULTS: Areas under the curves ranged from 0.823 to 0.889 indicating "good" diagnostic accuracy. Inter-rater reliability between parent and teacher responses was "good" to "excellent". The optimal cut-off determined by the Youden Index was "some difficulty" however a wide spread of impairment levels were found in this category with most children either having none or substantial impairments. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic accuracy of the Module seeing, hearing and walking questions appears acceptable with either parents or teachers as proxy respondents. For education systems, use of the cut-off "some difficulty" with accompanying clinical assessment may be important to capture children who require services and learning supports and avoid potentially misleading categorization. Given the high proportion of the sample from special schools research is required to further test the Module in mainstream schools. Implications for rehabilitation Identification of children who are at risk of disability in Fiji is important to enable planning, monitoring and evaluating access to quality inclusive education. The UNICEF/Washington Group Child Functioning Module appears to be a practical and effective tool that can be used by teachers to identify children at risk of disability. Children identified on the UNICEF/Washington Group Child Functioning Module as having "some difficulty" or higher levels of difficulty in relation to vision, hearing or walking should be referred for further assessment and services. Rehabilitation services in Fiji need to prepare for greater numbers of referrals as the Ministry of Education increasingly rolls out the inclusive education policy, which includes identification by schools of children at risk of disability.
PURPOSE: This study investigated the seeing, hearing and walking questions of the UNICEF/Washington Group Child Functioning Module and the inter-rater reliability between teachers and parents as proxy respondents. METHODS: Cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study, two-gate design with representative sampling, comparing Module responses to reference standard assessments for 472 primary aged students in Fiji. Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed to determine the area under the curve and optimal cut-off points. RESULTS: Areas under the curves ranged from 0.823 to 0.889 indicating "good" diagnostic accuracy. Inter-rater reliability between parent and teacher responses was "good" to "excellent". The optimal cut-off determined by the Youden Index was "some difficulty" however a wide spread of impairment levels were found in this category with most children either having none or substantial impairments. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic accuracy of the Module seeing, hearing and walking questions appears acceptable with either parents or teachers as proxy respondents. For education systems, use of the cut-off "some difficulty" with accompanying clinical assessment may be important to capture children who require services and learning supports and avoid potentially misleading categorization. Given the high proportion of the sample from special schools research is required to further test the Module in mainstream schools. Implications for rehabilitation Identification of children who are at risk of disability in Fiji is important to enable planning, monitoring and evaluating access to quality inclusive education. The UNICEF/Washington Group Child Functioning Module appears to be a practical and effective tool that can be used by teachers to identify children at risk of disability. Children identified on the UNICEF/Washington Group Child Functioning Module as having "some difficulty" or higher levels of difficulty in relation to vision, hearing or walking should be referred for further assessment and services. Rehabilitation services in Fiji need to prepare for greater numbers of referrals as the Ministry of Education increasingly rolls out the inclusive education policy, which includes identification by schools of children at risk of disability.
Authors: Nukhba Zia; Abdulgafoor M Bachani; Dan Kajungu; Edward Galiwango; Mitchell Loeb; Marie Diener-West; Stephen Wegener; George Pariyo; Adnan A Hyder Journal: PLoS One Date: 2022-04-15 Impact factor: 3.752
Authors: Dorothy Boggs; Hannah Kuper; Islay Mactaggart; Tess Bright; Gvs Murthy; Abba Hydara; Ian McCormick; Natalia Tamblay; Matias L Alvarez; Oluwarantimi Atijosan-Ayodele; Hisem Yonso; Allen Foster; Sarah Polack Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-04-03 Impact factor: 3.390
Authors: Thomas Frederick Dunne; Jaya Chandna; Florence Majo; Naume Tavengwa; Batsirai Mutasa; Bernard Chasekwa; Robert Ntozini; Andrew J Prendergast; Jean H Humphrey; Melissa J Gladstone Journal: PLoS One Date: 2022-09-16 Impact factor: 3.752
Authors: Nukhba Zia; Abdulgafoor M Bachani; Dan Kajungu; Edward Galiwango; Mitchell Loeb; Marie Diener-West; Stephen Wegener; George Pariyo; Adnan A Hyder Journal: Disabil Health J Date: 2020-11-14 Impact factor: 2.554
Authors: Nukhba Zia; Mitchell Loeb; Dan Kajungu; Edward Galiwango; Marie Diener-West; Stephan Wegener; George Pariyo; Adnan A Hyder; Abdulgafoor M Bachani Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2020-09-01 Impact factor: 3.295