title: The Byl-Cheney-Boczai Sensory Discriminator: reliability, validity, and responsiveness for testing stereognosis.
abstract: This study evaluated reliability, validity, and responsiveness of a new test of stereognosis (Byl-Cheney-Boczai Sensory Discriminator Test [BCBI]). Participants included 38 controls, 29 subjects with hand problems, and 3 raters. With eyes closed, after sweeping the digit over a design (10 mm x 10 mm) embedded in a plastic cube (13 mm x 13 mm), subjects matched the design palpated with a design on an answer sheet (10 trials/digits 2 and 4). The intra-class correlation coefficients were 0.997 and 0.994 for intra-rater and inter-rater reliability. No significant performance differences were found by gender or side. Accuracy was significantly higher for digit 2 versus digit 4, younger subjects versus older subjects, and controls versus subjects with pathology. There were significant (1) positive correlations (+0.41 to +0.53) between the BCBI and tests of stereognosis and graphesthesia; (2) negative correlations (-0.44 to -0.51) between the BCBI and the Purdue and digital reaction time; and (3) gains on the BCBI and function with therapy. The BCBI seems to be a reliable, valid, and responsive test of stereognosis that can be administered in 15 minutes in the cinic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, 94143, USA. byl@itsa.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Byl
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leano
authors.forename: Laura K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Cheney
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009048:Motor Skills; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D015588:Observer Variation; D011930:Reaction Time; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013236:Stereognosis