An initial study of current Malaysian occupational therapy off-road driving assessments

Abstract

An off-road driving assessment includes a variety of tests. However, in Malaysia, the availability of standardised tools is still lacking. Some standardised driving assessment tools are costly, and the contents are less suitable for Malaysian settings. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a standardised, sensitive to local culture, affordable, and comprehensive pre-driving assessment for occupational therapists in Malaysia. The research design for this study was an explanatory sequential design. The initial draft of the Malaysia Pre-driving Occupational Therapy Assessment (M-POTA) was developed based on the literature review and validated by the ten experts. The initial draft was refined using a focus group discussion of ten expert panels. The recorded data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis and member-checking procedures to refine the items, structures, and scoring of the M-POTA. The second draft of M-POTA then went through the content and face validation process by the six expert panels. The M-POTA 1.0 version was produced from this process. The M-POTA 1.0 version was found to have good content and face validity, S-CVI/Ave= 0.998; S-CVI/UA= 0.986; modified kappa= 0.81 to 1.000). The validated M-POTA 1.0 version is a standardised, local culture-sensitive, and cost-effective off-road driving assessment that is hoped to improve Malaysia’s current driving rehabilitation practice.