Inter-rater reliability of the Top Down Motor Milestone Test: a cross-sectional study

Objective: To assess the inter-rater reliability of the Top Down Motor Milestone Test, which is the first step of the Mobility Opportunities Via Education programme in children with motor disabilities. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: Neurosensory Developmental Unit of a tertiary hospital. Subjects: Parents of 21 children with motor disabilities were interviewed and scored on the Top Down Motor Milestone Test. Methods: The subjects were interviewed by one therapist while two other therapists observed the interview procedure. All three therapists were blinded to each other's scores. Results: Inter-rater reliability was analysed for all the 16 subtests using the inter-rater kappa. The pooled kappa was done for the three raters. The standard error and the P-value were also calculated. The value of inter-rater kappa for individual subtests ranged from 0.74 to 0.96. Pooled kappa for the Top Down Motor Milestone Test was 0.88 with standard error 0.06 and P-value < 0.01. Conclusion: The inter-rater reliability of the Top Down Motor Milestone Test proved to be good for each subtest and for the whole test.