Discriminative validity of the Dutch pediatric evaluation of disability inventory

Objective: To examine the discriminative validity of the Dutch Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) to differentiate functional status between children with and without disabilities. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: A university children's hospital in the Netherlands. Participants: A clinical sample comprising 197 children with disabilities (infantile encephalopathy, n=40; juvenile idiopathic arthritis, n=20; neurometabolic conditions, n=36; neuromuscular disorders, n=9; skeletal disorders, n=28; spina bifida, n=41; traumatic injury, n=23), and 62 children without disabilities. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measure: Functional status was measured by using a Dutch version of the PEDI. Results: Discriminant analysis established the sensitivity and specificity of the PEDI. Correct predictions of group membership (disabled vs nondisabled) were found in both children without disabilities (93.5% correctly predicted) and children with disabling conditions (91.6% correctly predicted). Conclusion: The discriminative validity of the Dutch PEDI between children with and without disabilities was excellent.