The forearm and finger rolling tests.
A variety of clinical tests are used to detect a subtle upper motor neuron lesion but only a few studies have measured their sensitivity and specificity. The forearm rolling test and its variant, the finger rolling test, is one such. These tests are simple and only take 5-10 s to perform. Their sensitivity has varied in different studies but in general both are more likely to be abnormal in a patient with a focal brain lesion than abnormal power, tone and reflexes. The finger rolling test is more sensitive than forearm rolling. Furthermore, an abnormal response on testing forearm and finger rolling has a high specificity for the presence of a focal brain lesion.
Neurology Department, Auckland City Hospital, Private Bag 92024, Auckland, New Zealand. neila@adhb.govt.nz
Neil E
NE
Anderson
D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005385:Fingers / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005542:Forearm / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity