Measurement properties of the Body Awareness Scale Movement Quality (BAS MQ) in autistic persons

• Background: Autistic persons exhibit poorer body awareness than neurotypical persons. Movement quality may be regarded as an expression of body awareness. Therefore, sound assessments of movement quality are essential to make reliable decisions about body awareness interventions.Purpose: To assess measurement properties of the Body Awareness Scale Movement Quality (BAS MQ) in persons on the autism spectrum and in a neurotypical reference group.Methods: Autistic persons (n=108) and neurotypical references (n=32) were included. All were assessed with BAS MQ, consisting of 23 items distributed within three subscales: stability in function, coordination/breathing and relating/awareness. Data were analyzed according to the Rasch model. Results: BAS MQ had acceptable unidimensionality, supported by the fit statistics. The hierarchical ordering showed that coordination/breathing ability was the most difficult, followed by stability in function and relating/awareness being the easiest. Response category worked as intended for 19 out of 23 items. Few difficult items for the most abled persons decreased targeting, leading to an inverted ceiling effect. Reliability measures were good. BAS MQ discriminated between the autism and the reference group, as the former exhibited poorer movement quality.Conclusions: BAS MQ was found to have acceptable measurement properties. BAS MQ may, along with experienced movement quality, contribute to clinically relevant information of movement quality and body awareness in persons on the autism spectrum. Implications: For autistic persons, the BAS MQ may:• assess movement quality• identify individuals that might benefit from body awareness interventions• assess and separate different levels of movement quality• discriminate between autistic and neurotypical individuals

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Sjukgymnastik (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Physiotherapy (hsv//eng)

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kon (subject category)

vet (subject category)