Network Analysis of the Participation and Activity Inventory for Children and Youth (PAI-CY) 7-12 Years with Visual Impairment.

Purpose: Children with visual impairment often experience more difficulties regarding participation compared to sighted peers. The Participation and Activity Inventory for Children and Youth (PAI-CY) has recently been developed to assess their participation needs. A novel application in the field of questionnaires is the use of network analysis to explore interrelations between items in order to capture their complex interactions as a reflection of the overall construct of measurement. This study aimed to apply network modeling for the PAI-CY 7-12 from the perspectives of children and their parents. Methods: Children and their parents ( Results: Eight items were deleted. Network structures were dissimilar; for children, connections evolved around social contacts and school items, whereas for parents, mobility, leisure time, acceptance, self-reliance, and communication items prevailed. In the children's network, playing imaginary games, inviting a friend to play at home, and estimating the distance from others were most connected to other items. Conclusions: This study uniquely identifies connections between items of the PAI-CY 7-12, highlighting the different perspectives parents and children have on what defines participation, possibly implying that they perceive the relevance of various rehabilitation programs differently. Translational Relevance: Rehabilitation programs aimed at improving the most connected items might positively affect other items in the network, possibly improving children's participation.