Th122:1

Parents' and therapists' perceptions about the content of the Manual Ability Classification System (MACS)

Oral (RES)

Ann-Marie Öhrvall¹,Ann-Christin Eliasson¹

¹⁾Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

MACS describes how children with cerebral palsy (CP) use their hands when handling objects in daily life.

Aim: To investigate the content validity based on parents' and therapists' descriptions of the children's ability to use their hands in daily life.

Methods: Twenty-five children, with CP were represented by a parent and an OT. The respondents rated the child's MACS-level, and participated in an interview about the child's ability, the classification and the scoring process.

Results: Parents and therapists found that MACS provide a good description of how children with CP use their hands. They found the five levels easy to choose between. Parents emphasised the advantage of describing what the children actually do instead of focusing on their limitations.

Conclusion: The descriptions in the MACS levels correspond well with the children's manual ability in daily life. MACS can be used as a tool in communication between parents and medical staff.