Reliability of the CEReKi water competence testing battery

Assessing water competencies is critical during childhood since this period is very favorable to the development of specific skills such as swimming. An original water competence testing battery, developed at the CEReKi, has been validated in 2017 by experts. The present research aims to verify its reproducibility. To explore its reproducibility, we submitted the testing battery twice to a sample of 170 children aged from 3 to 8 years old. The design of the protocol allowed to investigate inter and intra-evaluator reproducibility. Our results reveal good to excellent level of reproducibility with an agreement superior to 80% in most of the items. Inter-evaluator reproducibility was a little lower than the intra-evaluator reproducibility. Global score present excellent results with very high coefficient of correlation (r=0.98) and low coefficient of variation (CV= 6.2%). However it is necessary to pay attention on the elements of variability and to insist on the precision and the understanding of the instructions for a few items. Moreover, the battery is quite long and need for simplification. In conclusion, the CEReKi water competence testing battery seems reliable and presents the required characteristics to become a relevant tool for researchers and practitioners.