Convergent validity of two visual motor integration tests

Background: Occupational therapists often assess visual motor integration (VMI) skills. It is, therefore, imperative that therapists use VMI tests with robust measurement properties.Objective: This study examined the convergent validity of two VMI tests used to assess children, adolescents and adults.Method: Three groups of healthy participants (n = 153) completed the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (DTVMI) and the Full Range Test of Visual Motor Integration (FRTVMI). Seventy-three children aged 5-10 years (37 males and 36 females; mean age 7.5 years, SD = 2.20), 19 adolescents aged 11-17 years (8 males and 11 females; 13.1 years, SD = 2.16), and 61 adults (18 males and 43 females; mean age 31.82 years, SD = 11.20) completed the DTVMI and the FRTVMI. Spearman rho correlation coefficients were used to investigate whether each pair of the VMI test scores for each of the three participant age groups were associated.Results: The Spearman rho correlation coefficients between all three versions of the DTVMI and FRTVMI were statistically significant. For the child group, the correlation coefficient was rho = 0.70 (p&lt;0.000), while the correlation between the VMI scores obtained by the adolescent group on the two tests was rho = 0.77 (p&lt;0.000). For the adult participant group, the correlation coefficient between the DTVMI and the FRTVMI was rho = 0.70 (p&lt;0.000).Conclusion: The VMI scores obtained by the three participant age groups on the DTVMI and the FRTVMI were all significantly correlated with each other. Overall, the DTVMI and the FRTVMI exhibited large levels of convergent validity with each other, indicating that the two tests appear to measure similar visual-motor integration constructs.<br /

An evaluation of the validity of the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills - Revised (TVPS-R) using the Rasch Measurement Model

The visual perceptual skills of children are often evaluated by health care and education practitioners. Even though the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills - Revised (TVPS-R) is one of the most frequently used instruments with school-age children, its construct validity has not been evaluated thoroughly. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the scalability/interval level measurement, unidimensionality, lack of differential item functioning (DIF), and hierarchical ordering of items of the TVPS-R and its seven subscales using the Rasch Measurement Model (RMM). The TVPS-R scores from a sample of 356 normally developing children (171 boys and 185 girls), ranging in age from 5 to 11 years, were used to complete the RMM analysis. When the seven individual TVPS-R scales were analysed, they all exhibited adequate measurement properties (scalability/interval level measurement, unidimensionality, lack of DIF, and hierarchical ordering). However, when they were collapsed together to form an overall composite scale of motor-free visual perceptual skills, the TVPS-R items failed to group together to measure a unidimensional construct. In addition, many scale items exhibited RMM misfit or DIF. The results suggest that the seven TVPS-R subscales can be used on an individual basis with clients to generate a profile of their motor-free visual perceptual skills, but that they cannot be summed together to calculate an overall summary motor-free visual perceptual score or perceptual quotient. The TVPS-R composite scale does not exhibit adequate construct validity

Detection of Minimal Residual Disease and Its Clinical Applications in Melanoma and Breast Cancer Patients.

Melanoma and breast cancer (BC) patients face a high risk of recurrence and disease progression after curative surgery and/or therapeutic treatment. Monitoring for minimal residual disease (MRD) during a disease-free follow-up period would greatly improve patient outcomes through earlier detection of relapse or treatment resistance. However, MRD monitoring in solid tumors such as melanoma and BC are not well established. Here, we discuss the clinical applications of MRD monitoring in melanoma and BC patients and highlight the current approaches for detecting MRD in these solid tumors