JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) has achieved global implementation across 35 countries in more than 20 language versions. However, its psychometric properties for children with physical disabilities remain unverified.

Objective:

This study aimed to evaluate the inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the Arabic version of the COPM in this pediatric population.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study recruiting a convenience sample of parents of children with physical disabilities from Multi-rehabilitation centers. For inter-rater reliability assessment, 100 parents completed the Arabic-COPM through independent interviews with two raters. A subsample of 30 parents repeated the assessment after a 14-day interval for test-retest reliability analysis involving parents identifying their children's five most significant daily activity problems and rating performance and satisfaction levels for each problem using standardized 10-point scales.

Results:

Reliability analyses demonstrated excellent psychometric properties. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for inter-rater reliability reached 0.84 (performance) and 0.80 (satisfaction), while test-retest reliability coefficients were 0.83 and 0.91 respectively. Inter-rater agreement analysis revealed 73% concordance in problem prioritization between independent assessors. Bland-Altman plots indicated narrow limits of agreement for both performance (-1.69 to 1.60) and satisfaction scores (-1.03 to 0.98). Cohen's kappa values for problem categorization showed slight to fair agreement (0.22±0.10 inter-rater; 0.19±0.16 test-retest). Content analysis identified predominant concern with daily activities (82-85% of problems), particularly mobility functions, followed by dressing and eating subcategories.

Conclusions:

The Arabic-COPM demonstrates excellent reliability metrics for both inter-rater consistency and temporal stability when administered to parents of children with physical disabilities. These robust measurement properties support its application as a validated instrument for implementing family-centered rehabilitation approaches in Arabic-speaking clinical contexts.