Overview
The Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory - Computer Adaptive Test (PEDI-CAT; Haley, Coster, Dumas, Fragala-Pinkham, & Moed, 2012) is an interview-based, norm-referenced questionnaire that is designed to measure abilities of persons birth through 21 years of age in four domains: Daily Activities, Mobility, Social/Cognitive, and Responsibility. Domains can be used independently or in combination. Age, gender, and mobility device filters prevent irrelevant items from being presented. The PEDI-CAT can be used for persons who have a variety of physical and/or behavioral conditions, and it is useful for identifying functional delays, examining progress after intervention, and evaluating and monitoring group progress in program evaluation and research. There are two versions, the Speedy and Content-Balanced. Administration is tablet or computer-administered, and there are both English and Spanish versions.
Summary
Age: Birth to 21 years
Time to Administer: 45-60 minutes; time varies due to the adaptive nature of the test
Method of Administration: Individually-administered, norm-referenced; interview-based questionnaire completed by parent or caregiver; computer-based
Yields standard scores, age percentile ranks, and T-scores; scaled scores to assess change over time
Subscales: Domain Scores: Daily Activities, Mobility, Social/Cognitive, Responsibility
Autism Related Research
Kramer, Liljenquist, & Coster (2016)
Age Range: 10-18 years
Sample Size: 39
Topics Addressed:
Examine psychometric properties of PEDI—CAT for use in ASD
Outcome:Kramer, Liljenquist, & Coster (2016)
Intraclass correlation coefficients indicate excellent reliability for all PEDI-CAT (ASD) domain scores (ICC≥ 0.86). PEDI-CAT (ASD) and Vineland-II domain scores correlated as expected or stronger than expected (0.57–0.81). Parents reported that the computer-based PEDI-CAT (ASD) was easy to use and included fewer irrelevant questions than the Vineland-II. Weak relationships between the PEDI-CAT (ASD) Daily Activities scale and the Vineland domains provide evidence for the PEDI-CAT (ASD)’s unique approach of distinguishing the functional performance of practical living skills from the social and communication demands often associated with such tasks.
Conclusion: the PEDI-CAT (ASD) is a reliable assessment that parents can easily use; it may be an appropriate alternative to the Vineland and may be better suited to answering certain research or clinical questions, including questions about specific functional domains and the management of tasks essential for independent living.
Kao, Kramer, Liljenquist, & Coster (2014)
Age Range: 3-21 years
Sample Size: 263
Topics Addressed:
Cross-sectional examination of whether impairments or functional skills are associated with the level of responsibility for life tasks for those with ASD
Outcome:Kao, Kramer, Liljenquist, & Coster (2014)
After controlling for age, the model showed that step 2 predictor variables representing both impairments and functional skill improved the model (p < 0.001). All variables except the Social Communication Questionnaire score were significant predictors of Responsibility. The variance explained by the Daily Activities (2.7%) and Social/Cognitive (4.8%) domain scores was greater than IQ (0.3%).
Conclusion: the functional skills of PEDI-CAT Daily Activities and Social/Cognitive domains were more strongly associated with the management of life tasks than impairments after controlling for age, suggesting that impairments my not have a direct effect on the management of life tasks essential for independent living. Further, the potential usefulness of examining the PEDI-CAT (ASD) for examining the concept of “responsibility shift” for children and adolescents with ASD was demonstrated.