A pilot study of the Video Observations Aarts and Aarts (VOAA) a new software program to measure motor behaviour in children with cerebral palsy

A new computer software program to score video observations, Video Observations Aarts and Aarts (VOAA) was developed to evaluate paediatric occupa- tional therapy interventions. The VOAA is an observation tool that assesses the fre- quency, duration and quality of arm/hand use in children, in particular those with cerebral palsy. Reliability studies show that the fi rst module, designed to evaluate a forced-use programme, has an excellent content validity index (0.93) and good intra- and inter-observer reliability (Cohen's kappas ranging from 0.62 to 0.85 for the three activi- ties tested). With the built-in statistical package, paediatric occupational therapy depart- ments can conduct therapeutic evaluations with children with impairments in the upper extremities. Further research is recommended to apply the VOAA in clinical studies in paediatric occupational therapy. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.