Assessment of Motor Functions in Typically Developing Children Aged 10–14 Using Electronic Engineering Methods: Reliability and Validity

Introduction. A key area of research and practice in physical education pedagogy involves improving systems, methods, and tools for recording and evaluating children’s performance using innovative technological solutions and software tools in electronic engineering. Objective. To experimentally determine the compliance with metrological requirements of the hardware-software complex we developed for recording the state of motor function development in children using DGI. Materials and Methods. The study included 215 boys aged 10–14 years who were developing typically and represented Ukraine, China, and Ethiopia; their ages ranged from 10.2 ± 0.3 to 14.1 ± 0.4 years. We used the developed system and traditional visual recording of the boys’ results in four DGI tasks, which allowed us to assess the state of their motor function development based on gait parameters in the DGI. We determined the reliability and validity of each method used to record test results; we used the intraclass correlation coefficient. We analyzed the data for 10-, 12-, and 14-year-old boys representing each of the three countries. For each sample, we assessed the distribution of individual values (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test) and compared the results from each of the three examiners (t-test). We also employed methods of analysis, synthesis, and theoretical modeling when processing various sources of information. The implementation of these activities was based on PRISMA-P. Results. To address one of the study’s objectives, we developed a software-hardware complex for studying gait parameters in children while they performed the corresponding test tasks. This system was based on a combination of modern hardware, neural network technologies, and an algorithm for processing test results using application software. All operations of the system occur in real time, and its practical application enables the collection of empirical data. After analyzing the data, it was found that the results exhibit a fairly high degree of objectivity, accuracy, and reliability. This was evidenced by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values: reliability was very high (0.9 and above), and validity was high (0.7–0.89). The reliability of the traditional recording method ranged from low to moderate (ICC: 0.391–0.672), while its validity was low (0.210–0.495). Moreover, these values were obtained in all samples of 10-, 12-, and 14-year-old boys, and the results from the three different examiners showed virtually no differences when compared (t values ranging from 0 to 1.875; p > 0.05). The experimental data indicated that, regardless of age and nationality, in most DGI tasks the distribution of individual scores for boys differed from a normal distribution (K-S Test – p < 0.05–0.01). When comparing the results (M) of all three examiners for each DGI task, obtained through traditional visual observation, it was found that they showed virtually no differences (t ranging from 0 to 1.875; p > 0.05). The reliability and validity of the gait parameter data that all examiners obtained using the developed system were significantly higher than those obtained using the traditional method. The intraclass correlation coefficients were as follows: reliability was very high in the first case (0.9 and above) and low to moderate in the second (0.391–0.672); validity was high (0.7–0.89) and low (0.21–0.495), respectively. Conclusions. The objective, accurate, and reliable information on gait parameters provided by the use of the developed test battery can improve the quality of gait assessment in children, as well as the personalized physical activity programs designed by physical education teachers based on the results of such testing.