Psychometric evaluation of a motor control test battery of the craniofacial region

Abstract

Background

The primary objective of this study was to determine the structural and known-group validity as well as the inter-rater reliability of a test battery to evaluate the motor control of the craniofacial region.

Methods

70 volunteers without TMD and 25 subjects with TMD (Axes I) per the DC/TMD were asked to execute a test battery consisting of eight tests. The tests were videotaped in the same sequence in a standardized manner. Two experienced physical therapists participated in this study as blinded assessors. We used exploratory factor analysis in order to identify the underlying component structure of the 8 tests. Internal consistency (Cronbach α), inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient), and construct validity (i.e. hypothesis testing-known-group validity) (receiver operating curves) were also explored for the test battery.

Results

The structural validity showed the presence of one factor underlying the construct of the test battery. The internal consistency was excellent (0.90) as well as the inter-rater reliability. All values of reliability were close to 0.9 or above indicating very high inter-rater reliability. The Area Under the Curve (AUC) was 0.93 for rater 1 and 0.94 for rater two respectively indicating excellent discrimination between subjects with TMD and healthy controls.

Conclusions

The results of the present study support the psychometric properties of test battery to measure motor control of the craniofacial region when evaluated through videotaping. This test battery could be used to differentiate between healthy subjects and subjects with musculoskeletal impairments in the cervical and orofacial regions. In addition, this test battery could be used to assess the effectiveness of management strategies in the craniofacial region.

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