Assessment of arm/hand functioning in children with a congenital transverse or longitudinal reduction deficiency of the upper limb.
OBJECTIVE
Selection of appropriate functional tests and questionnaires to assess capacity (tests) and performance (questionnaires) of arm/hand functioning in children with congenital transverse or longitudinal (radius dysplasia) reduction deficiencies of the upper limb.


METHODS
A PubMed Medline search was performed. Tests and questionnaires were evaluated according to three criteria: (1) items represent bimanual daily activities, (2a) quality of movement is scored (tests) or (2b) difficulty in performing a task (questionnaires), (3) instrument is attractive for children aged 4 - 12.


RESULTS
We found 14 functional tests and nine questionnaires to measure arm/hand functioning. Three tests, the Assisting Hand Assessment (AHA), Unilateral Below Elbow Test (UBET) and University of New Brunswick Test of prosthetic function (UNB Test) and two questionnaires, the Prosthetic Upper limb Functional Index (PUFI) and the children's version of the ABILHAND (ABILHAND-Kids) met the criteria.


CONCLUSIONS
Two functional tests (AHA and UBET) and two questionnaires (ABILHAND-Kids and PUFI) were considered appropriate to assess arm/hand functioning in children with congenital reduction deficiencies of the upper limb, but require further study on psychometric properties for these patient groups.
Buffart
Laurien M
LM
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. l.buffart@erasmusmc.nl
Roebroeck
Marij E
ME
Pesch-Batenburg
Josemiek M F B
JM
Janssen
Wim G M
WG
Stam
Henk J
HJ
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001186:Artificial Limbs; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011594:Psychometrics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000502:physiology*; D038062:Upper Extremity Deformities, Congenital / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*