Manual ability classification system for children with cerebral palsy in a school setting and its relationship to home self-care activities.

OBJECTIVE Our aim in this study was to investigate the relationship between (a) the manual abilities of children with cerebral palsy (CP), assessed with the Manual Ability Classification System (MACS) in a school rehabilitation setting, and (b) the children's performance of self-care activities at home, assessed with the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI). In addition, we assessed the interobserver reliability of the MACS. METHOD Sixty-one children with CP were included (mean age = 10.3 yr, range = 5-14). The MACS was classified by 2 independent raters. The PEDI was scored in a structured interview. RESULTS The Spearman correlation coefficient between the MACS and the self-care domain of the PEDI Caregiver Assistance Scale was high and statistically significant (r = .72). The interobserver reliability of the MACS was good (weighted kappa = .86). CONCLUSION The MACS is a reliable instrument in a school environment and is related to the performance of daily life self-care activities at home.