Peabody Developmental Motor Scale (PDMS-2)

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Introduction

The Peabody Developmental Motor Scale was first developed and published in 1983 by Rhonda Folio and Rebecca Fewell. A second edition was published in 2000 by the same authors.

No specific course or accreditation is needed to be able to conduct the test, but it is valuable to have good knowledge on the developmental stages of a child. A wide variety of healthcare professionals, such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, doctors and physical education teachers, can perform the test in the assessment of a child with possible developmental delay or issues. A good knowledge base in normal and typical development as well as in atypical development is recommended. This will make it easier to understand the nuances in the development of children. (Atara Taragin course)

The assessment kit is available for purchase online.

The Peabody Developmental Motor Scale (PDMS-2)assesses fine and gross motor skills of children from birth to six years old relative to their peers. There are four subtests about gross motor skills and two subtests about fine motor skills. The gross motor subtests include reflexes (8 items), stationary performances (30 items), locomotion (89 items) and object manipulation (72 items). The fine motor skills subtests include grasping (26 items) and visual-motor integration (72 items). The total score is determined by the sum of the points of each subscale/item. Every item is rated on a 3-point rating scale. Internal consistency of the scale is very high (alpha = 0.97).

Benefits of the PDMS-2

• Excellent tool for the evaluation of the motor development of young children by providing separate tests and grading scales for both gross motor skills and fine motor skills
• Test battery standardisation carried out with a total of 2203 children in the USA and Canada and is the first battery that was standardised on a national level
• Only tool of its kind that combines evaluation with planned intervention. A planned program of 104 motor teaching and therapy activities is included.
• These activities are organised based on the child’s development. The program can help in:
  • the development of skills, provided that the evaluation of a child’s skills based on the test battery has been completed.

Application of the PDMS-2

Test was designed to identify developmental delays in children. The test can be used in various populations and settings to achieve specific goals. These may include:

• Assessing a child's motor competence relative to his/her peers
  • For example in a clinical setting where children with various diagnosis and a wide range of neuromuscular impairments can be assessed and therapy provided
• Identifying delays or disorders in development
  • For example in a school setting –  i.e. At a preschool, to pick up on children that may have developmental delay as well as their strengths and weaknesses
• Useful tool to evaluate a child's progress
  • Test was develop to identify strengths and weaknesses in a child’s motor development. Administering the test before and after a physical therapy intervention plan is a good way to document the child’s progress and also to measure the efficacy of the intervention.
• Research purposes
  • PMDS-2 is the gold standard and is often used in research and literature to assess the nature of motor development in various populations of children
• Specific skill deficits can be used to develop individualised goals.
  • Helps in designing treatment goals and treatment plan based on the child’s strengths and weaknesses in motor development

Administrator Qualification

No specific course or accreditation is needed to be able to conduct the test, but it is valuable to have good knowledge on the developmental stages of a child. A wide variety of healthcare professionals can perform the test in the assessment of a child with possible developmental delay or issues. These may include:

• physiotherapists
• occupational therapists
• psychologists
• doctors
• physical education teachers

A good knowledge base in normal and typical development as well as in atypical development is recommended. This will make it easier to understand the nuances in the development of children.(Atara Taragin course)

Validity and Reliability of PDMS-2

Children on the autistic spectrum

Children with Cerebral palsy

Children who are GMFCS 1 and 2

Premature children and babies

Children receiving physical therapy for various diagnoses

Target population

Test is appropriate and should be used for children from birth to 5 years (72 months) old

What does test kit consist of:

Three hardcover books – the examiner’s manual includes history of test development, describes the validity  and reliability measures of the test and contains the various scoring charts

Profile summary – document where all the raw data is added and a scoring graph created from data

Examiners record booklet – therapist use this when administering the test and score on this as test progresses

Guide to item administration

Includes description of each of the activities or skills assessed with images

Motor Activities Program book – includes various ways/options in which to teach a child the skills that he/she is having difficulty with as well as the importance of the various skills.

Peabody Motor development chart

Test manipulatives document – indicates which items are needed to administer the test, such as 8 inch ball, tennis ball, string, chair, tape measure, et cetera

Administering the PDMS-2 Test

Important to remember:

All assessment items should be presented in a precise manner with specific verbal cues and demonstrations

Administer test in an environment with minimal distractions

The area where test is administered should be set-up beforehand, areas marked out and pre-measured and equipment ready. This is to avoid any disruptions during the test and allow the test to flow.

Examples of areas to pre-measure include:

Line on the floor clearly marked (spraypaint or duct tape) – four inches wide and 8 feet long

Area where child needs to run also marked out – 10 feet (3 meters) 30 feet (9 meters), 45 feet (13 meters) or converted to the metric system

Jumping distances demarcated

Jump from different heights – have benches already ready and at correct heights.

Tips from the authors:

Read the manual beforehand

Have someone assist who is familiar with the test

Run the test three times before actually concluding a score

Calm and nice environment

Be sensitive to the child’s limitations – avoid the child becoming frustrated

Administering the gross motor function part of the PDMS-2

Often in multidisciplinary team set-ups, the physiotherapist will assess the gross motor function part and an occupational therapist will focus on the fine motor section.

The complete PDMS-2 has six subtests. The first four focuses on gross motor skills and the last two on fine motor skills. For the purpose of this page, focus will be on the gross motor skill subtests.

The first subtest is reflexes

This test is only administered to children under the age of 1 year. This investigates the child’s reaction to outside stimuli. Eight different items are assessed under reflexes -

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