Validity and Reliability of the Test of Gross Motor Development - 3 in Children Aged 5 to 9 years in Iraq and a Comparison of the Development of Gross Motor Skills of Iranian and Iraqi Children

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Iraqi version of the Gross Motor Development Test - Third Edition TGMD-3 in Iraqi children aged 5 to 9 years. The second aim of this study was to compare the development of gross motor skills of Iranian and Iraqi children. The participants were selected from 400 people by cluster sampling method from Iraq and were evaluated using TGMD-3 test. Finally, 30 Iraqis in the age group of 8-9 years were randomly selected and compared with a similar group of 30 Iranian children. Cronbach's alpha, Pearson correlation coefficient, factor analysis and t-test were used to analyze the data. Internal consistency reliability coefficients for locomotor, ball skills and total scores were 0.77, 0.85 and 0.87; test-retest reliability coefficients were 0.89, 0.90 and 0.91; inter-rater reliability coefficients were 0.77, 0.85 and 0.88; intera-rater coefficients were 0.66, 0.80 and 0.84, respectively. Also, there was no significant difference between the performance of Iranian and Iraqi children in the subtests of locomotor and ball skills and the total score of gross motor skills (P <0.05). Due to the confirmation of validity and reliability, this test can be used with confidence to evaluate the development of gross motor skills. The results obtained are limited to the Iraqi boy community of 5 to 9 years, and additional studies are needed in the future for use in the girl community and other age groups.

Keywords

• psychometrics
• validity
• reliability
• iraqi children
• gross motor skills