The Arabic Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (Arabic-COPM) in Pediatric Rehabilitation: Quantitative Reliability Study.

Background

The 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 interrater and test-retest reliability of the Arabic version of the COPM (Arabic-COPM) in this pediatric population.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted using a convenience sample of parents of children with physical disabilities recruited from multi-rehabilitation centers. For the interrater reliability assessment, 100 parents completed the Arabic-COPM through independent interviews with 2 raters. A subsample of 30 (30%) parents repeated the assessment after a 14-day interval for the test-retest reliability analysis, in which they identified their children's 5 most significant daily activity problems and rated the performance and satisfaction levels for each problem using standardized 10-point scales.

Results

Reliability analyses demonstrated excellent psychometric properties. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for interrater reliability were 0.84 (performance) and 0.80 (satisfaction), while test-retest reliability coefficients were 0.83 and 0.91, respectively. Interrater 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 κ analysis for problem categorization demonstrated slight-to-fair interrater agreement and slight-to-moderate test-retest agreement across COPM domains. Content analysis identified a predominant concern with daily activities (82%-85% of problems), particularly mobility functions, followed by dressing and eating subcategories.

Conclusions

The Arabic-COPM demonstrated excellent reliability metrics for both interrater 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.