Test of Motor Proficiency Second Edition (BOT-2): Compatibility of the Complete and Short Form and Its Usefulness for Middle-Age School Children

BACKGROUND: The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency Second Edition (BOT-2) assesses the psychomotor development. It is available in two forms. According to several studies the BOT-2 short form (SF) provides significantly higher results than the BOT-2 complete form (CF). This might be due to the use of an inadequate type of scores when comparing results of the SF and the CF. OBJECTIVE: To verify whether the degree of psychomotor development assessed by the BOT-2 SF is comparable to the results of the BOT-2 CF in middle-age school children when using standard scores considering age and sex. METHODS: The research sample consisted of n=153 neurotypical children (n=69 girls, n=84 boys) from 8 to 11 years (9.53 ± 0.85). The degree of psychomotor development was determined by the standard scores of the BOT-2 CF and BOT-2 SF – both considering sex and age. The conformity in results between the CF and the SF, the sensitivity and specificity of the BOT-2 SF and the relations between the results of each sub-test within the BOT-2 CF and the BOT-2 SF were analyzed. RESULTS: The BOT-2 SF provided a significantly lower standard score x =45.87 (± 5.41) compared to the BOT-2 CF x =47.57(± 8.29) with middle effect size value, Hays ω2=0.09. The ROC analysis showed that the BOT-2 SF obtains sufficient sensitivity (84%) but poor specificity (42.9%) and AUC=0.484 CI95% (0.31 – 0.62). Moreover, only 57% of total variance of the BOT-2 CF is explained by the relation between the results of the CF and the SF. CONCLUSION: The BOT-2 SF does not provide significantly different results compared to the BOT-2 CF when using a proper scale for comparing both versions. In addition, poor specificity of the BOT-SF suggests that the BOT-2 SF might be a useful tool to reveal mainly psychomotorically delayed but not above average (psychomotorically advanced) children. Further, due to the weak portion of a shared common factor, it remains still unclear whether the BOT-2 CF and the BOT-2 SF measure the same behavioral domain.