Inter-Intra Rater Reliability, Construct and Discriminative Validity of Iranian Typically Developing Children Handwriting Speed Test (I-CHST)

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop an Iranian Hand writing Speed Test (I-CHST) for testing of Iranian students aged 8-12. To date, no  norms of handwriting speed have been published for hand-writing speed of the Iranian students. Methods: A sample of 400 typically developing Iranian students across four age cohorts was recruited. Among those 400 students 50% were girls and 50%  were boys. 73% were studding at government schools and 27% were from the private schools. 79% were right handed and 11% were left handed. The results showed that the handwriting speed assessment test has excellent inter-rater reliability (r=1, P=0.000) and construct validity (r=0.798, P=0.000). Results: The findings showed that handwriting speed increases with age and the rate of increase was found to be greatest among Iranian children aged 8-12. It is also found that the girls aged 11-12 wrote faster than boys of the same age. Discussion: Based on this research, I-CHST was a valid and reliable test for testing the hand writing speed in Iranian children and it could be used for testing or intervention purposes by the therapists at clinics.