Adaptation and validation of UNICEF/Washington group child functioning module at the Iganga-Mayuge health and demographic surveillance site in Uganda.

Publisher: BioMed Central Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 100968562 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1471-2458 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14712458 NLM ISO Abbreviation: BMC Public Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: London : BioMed Central, [2001-

Affect* ; Cognition* ; Disability Evaluation* ; Motor Activity*; Children with Disabilities/*statistics & numerical data; Adolescent ; Adult ; Caregivers ; Child ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reproducibility of Results ; Uganda/epidemiology ; United Nations

Background: The UNICEF/Washington Group Child Functioning Module (CFM) assesses child functioning among children between 5 and 17 years of age. This study adapted and validated the CFM at the Iganga-Mayuge Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (IM-HDSS) in Uganda.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2018-January 2019 at the IM-HDSS. Respondents were caregivers of children between 5 and 17 years of age who were administered modified Washington Group short set (mWG-SS) and CFM. The responses were recorded on a 4-point Likert scale. Descriptive analysis was conducted on child and caregiver demographic characteristics. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) assessed underlying factor structure, dimensionality and factor loadings. Cronbach's alpha was reported as an assessment of internal consistency. Face validity was assessed during the translation process, and concurrent validity of CFM was assessed through comparison with disability short form.
Results: Out of 1842 caregivers approached, 1439 (78.1%) participated in the study. Mean age of children was 11.06 ± 3.59 years, 51.4% were males, and 86.1% had a primary caregiver. Based on EFA, vision, hearing, walking, self-care, communication, learning, remembering, concentrating, accepting change, behavior control, and making friends loaded on factor 1 - "Motor and Cognition," while anxiety and depression loaded on factor 2 - "Mood". Cronbach's alpha for the overall CFM was 0.899 (good internal consistency). Cronbach's alpha for each extracted factor was excellent, motor and cognition (0.904), and mood (0.902). CFM had acceptable face validity. Spearman's rank correlation between scores of CFM and modified WG short set was 0.51 (p-value < 0.001). The overall mean CFM score was 2.47 ± 3.82 out of 39. The mean score for Mood (1.35 ± 1.42 out of 6) was higher compared to Motor and Cognition (1.12 ± 3.06 out of 33). Comparing modified WG short set and CFM Likert responses, the percent agreement was greatest for "cannot do at all."
Conclusion: CFM is a two-factor, valid and reliable scale for assessing disability in Uganda and can be applied to other similar settings to contribute towards disability data from the region. It is an easy-to-administer tool that can help in deeper understanding of context-specific burden and extent of disability in children between 5 and 17 years of age.

Disabil Health J. 2018 Oct;11(4):510-518. (PMID: 30049638)
Disabil Rehabil. 2017 Nov;39(23):2436-2445. (PMID: 27767355)
Biochem Med (Zagreb). 2012;22(3):276-82. (PMID: 23092060)
Disabil Health J. 2021 Apr;14(2):101022. (PMID: 33218854)
J Intellect Disabil Res. 2003 Mar;47(Pt 3):153-4. (PMID: 12603512)
Disabil Rehabil. 2013 Jun;35(13):1070-3. (PMID: 23020151)
Afr J Disabil. 2016 Sep 26;5(1):265. (PMID: 28730058)
Disabil Rehabil. 2016;38(13):1291-9. (PMID: 26457663)
Popul Health Metr. 2017 Feb 9;15(1):3. (PMID: 28183307)
BMJ Open. 2014 Dec 19;4(12):e005795. (PMID: 25526793)
Disabil Rehabil. 2019 Jan;41(2):201-211. (PMID: 28931311)
Disabil Health J. 2018 Oct;11(4):495-501. (PMID: 30054226)
BMC Public Health. 2011 May 31;11 Suppl 4:S3. (PMID: 21624189)
Disabil Health J. 2018 Oct;11(4):502-509. (PMID: 30049637)
Pediatrics. 2007 Jul;120 Suppl 1:S1-55. (PMID: 17603094)
Disabil Health J. 2023 Oct;16(4):101499. (PMID: 37481353)
Salud Publica Mex. 2017 Jul-Aug;59(4):485-487. (PMID: 29211271)
BMC Public Health. 2011 May 31;11 Suppl 4:S4. (PMID: 21624190)

D43 TW009284 United States TW FIC NIH HHS; D43TW009284 United States TW FIC NIH HHS

Keywords: Adaptation; Africa; Child disability; Iganga-Mayuge health and demographic surveillance site; UNICEF/Washington group child functioning module; Uganda; Validation

Date Created: 20200903 Date Completed: 20201215 Latest Revision: 20250103

20250114

PMC7465762

10.1186/s12889-020-09455-1

32873287