Analysis of the internal consistency of the portuguese version of the Dynamic Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment for Children (DOTCA-Ch) in students aged 06 to 12 years old

Demarchi, Gabriela Souza dos Santos; Andrade, Mariana Dias; Novelli, Marcia Maria Pires Camargo; Katz, Noomi; Uchôa-Figueiredo, Lúcia da Rocha

doi:10.4322/2526-8910.ctoAO1618

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Original Article • Cad. Bras. Ter. Ocup. 27 (3) • Jul-Sep 2019 • https://doi.org/10.4322/2526-8910.ctoAO1618 copy

Analysis of the internal consistency of the portuguese version of the Dynamic Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment for Children (DOTCA-Ch) in students aged 06 to 12 years old

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

Introduction

The Dynamic Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment for Children (DOTCA-Ch) was constructed in 2004 in Israel at Loewenstein Hospital with the proposal to evaluate the cognitive performance of children aged 6 to 12 years old in 22 subtests distributed in five cognitive areas: Orientation, Space Perception, Praxis, Visual-motor Construction, and Thought Operations. For each subtest, there is a structured choice of up to five levels of mediation.

Objective

To analyze the internal consistency of the Portuguese version of the DOTCA-Ch battery in students of the municipal teaching system of Santos, São Paulo, Brazil.

Method

The study was carried out in partnership with the Secretary of Education of the municipal of Santos, in a school municipal, with 90 students of both genders, distributed between the 1^st and 7^th grades, evaluations were carried out in the period from August 2015 to November 2016. Data were analyzed by domains, evaluating the internal consistency of the instrument.

Results

The Cronbach's alpha value points to very high reliability (α = 0.92) of the battery in the evaluation of students in regular education. We can identify that they benefit from mediations, especially in more complex cognitive areas such as Praxis and Thinking Operations.

Conclusion

The Portuguese version of the DOTCA-Ch battery presented excellent internal consistency for the use of students aged 6 to 12 years old. In this way, a dynamic instrument of reliable cognitive evaluation is available to professionals in the field of Occupational Therapy to be used in evaluations and interventions that consider an integrality of the child, his unique way of thinking and doing.

Keywords:
Occupational Therapy; Child; Cognition; Education; Primary and Secondary

General Intervention	*General Feedback*	*Specific* *Feedback*	Structured Category	Reduced Quantity
1	2	3	4	5
The evaluator draws the attention of the child “Think”, “Pay attention” to the information of the task to be developed.	The evaluator informs the child that something is not completely correct and asks questions about the task so the child can see the error.	The evaluator clarifies where the child's mistake is and asks the child to redo the task.	The evaluator shows to the child what should be done so the task is best developed. In some subtests, the evaluator begins the task and the child continues to develop it.	The task is simplified, so it maintains the initial goal, but with fewer details/actions to be developed. The evaluator develops the task, and the child observes and then performs the task again.

DOTCA-Ch Battery Test Item Groupings
Cognitive Areas	Subtests	Itens	Description
Orientation	1. Space Orientation	4	It is about the awareness of the child on the spatial and temporal orientation. In this domain, four questions related to each of these guidelines are asked.
Orientation	2. Temporary Orientation	4
Perception Space	3. Guidelines Regarding their own Body	4	It is the ability to visually locate objects in the space, composed in part by the awareness of their position in the space, such as the determination of the spatial relationship of figures and objects with themselves and/or with other forms and objects, the ability to understand the concept of laterality and directionality and/or the understanding of the external position of an object in space in relation to him/her. Commands are performed, requesting actions and/or identifying objects.
	4. Space Relations between Child and Objects in an Upcoming Space	4
	5. Space Relationships in a Figure	4
Praxis	6. Motorcycle Imitation	12	It is the development and learning of the movements and their control. It is a primary means by which the child reaches the self-domain and develops skills with objects and tools in the environment. These tasks involve either the movement through the use of the object by imitation, seeing or using the actual object, or verbal command without seeing or using the object. Also, the test items include intentional movements and unintentional movements.
	7. Use of Objects	5
	8. Symbolic Actions	5
Visual-motor Construction	9. Copy of Geometric Figures^* * Subtests 9 through 13 include immediate and late task building memory testing.	1	It is the ability to integrate visual stimulus and construct or design a reproduction, involving the ability to perceive spatial relationships between component parts, to perform all relevant thinking operations, and to answer with manual movements necessary to assemble or synthesize these parts into an object. Another strategy used to achieve the sensitivity of the evaluation results is by measuring the response time of the task. In this cognitive area, the immediate and delayed memory is also evaluated against the activities performed.
	10. Reproduction of a Two-Dimensional Model*	1
	11. Construction in the Pit Box*	1
	12. Colored Blocks Model*	1
	13. Simple Block Model*	1
	14. Playing a Puzzle	1
	15. Clock Drawing	1
Thought Operations	16. Categorization	1	It is the child's performance in thinking operations that require a basic capacity for conceptualization and includes the ability to identify discrete features of objects, organize them between hierarchies, and classify them into basic categories.
	17. Non-Structured Classification	1
	18. Structured Classification	1
	19. Sequence of Figures A	1
	20. Sequence of Figures B	1
	21. Sequence of Geometric Figures A	1
	22. Sequence of Geometric Figures B	1

Phase I	Phase II	Phase III
Test	Mediation	Post-Mediation
(Static Phase)	(Dynamic Phase)	(Retest)

	Variables	N	%
Gender	Female	40	44
	Male	50	56
Age group	06 years old	11	12
	07 years old	11	12
	08 years old	15	17
	09 years old	13	15
	10 years old	12	13
	11 years old	12	13
	12 years old	16	18
	Mean 9.15
	SD^* * SD = Standard deviation. (± 2.01)
School grade	1^st	13	14
	2^nd	15	17
	3^rd	15	17
	4^th	08	9
	5^th	12	13
	6^th	15	17
	7^th	12	13
	Mean 3.93
	SD* (± 2.04)
Living in	Santos	86	96
	Guarujá	03	3
	Cubatão	01	1
Neighborhood	Ponta da Praia	54	60
	Aparecida	15	17
	Estuário	11	12
	Others	6	7
	Santa Cruz dos Navegantes (Guarujá)	3	3
	Vila dos pescadores (Cubatão)	1	1

Domains	Cronbach alpha values
Orientation (8 items)	0.74
Space Perception (12 items)	0.67
Praxis (23 items)	0.79
Visual-motor Construction (7 items)	0.80
Immediate Memory (5 items)	0.74
Delayed Memory (5 items)	0.69
Thought Operations (8 items)	0.62
Alpha Coefficient	0.92

Domains	Cronbach Alpha values
Domains	Original Study	This Study
Orientation (8 items)	0.61	0.74
Space Perception (12 items)	0.74	0.67
Praxis (23 items)	0.70	0.79
Visual-motor Construction (7 items)	0.61	0.80
Immediate Memory (5 items)	0.64	0.74
Delayed Memory (5 items)	--	0.69
Thought Operations (8 items)	0.77	0.62
Alpha Coefficient	---	0.92

Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Departamento de Terapia Ocupacional Rodovia Washington Luis, Km 235, Caixa Postal 676, CEP: , 13565-905, São Carlos, SP - Brasil, Tel.: 55-16-3361-8749 - São Carlos - SP - Brazil
E-mail: cadto@ufscar.br

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[1] Corresponding author: Lúcia da Rocha Uchôa-Figueiredo, Departamento de Gestão e Cuidados em Saúde, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Campus Baixada Santista Rua Silva Jardim, 136, sala 113, Vila Mathias, CEP 11015-020, Santos, SP, Brasil, e-mail: uchoalucia@gmail.com