title: The "peg test": a novel technique for dexterity evaluation in hand immobilized with a splint.
abstract: Manual dexterity tests are difficult to apply in the clinical practice. They are either destined for specific lesions, or are rather complicated and time-consuming. The aim of this study was to evaluate a new manual dexterity test for hand immobilized with a splint: the "peg test". Our series included 86 persons (without any hand trauma or disease) of mean age 42 years of which 77 were right-handed. Materials included five pegs, splints immobilizing the DIP joint, a desk and a stopwatch. Each subject moved the pegs from a horizontal to a vertical position using the thumb-ring pinch grip. This was repeated three times without a splint, with a palmar splint, with a simple dorsal splint and with a dorsal splint glued to the nail, then once more without a splint. A time score was recorded for each trial. A point was deduced at each fall of a peg for result analysis. Results showed that a learning curve affected performance, but that dominance and age before learning had no effect. After learning performance diminished with these variables in the following order: without splint, then more so with a glued splint, even more with a simple dorsal splint and most with a palmar one. The peg test fulfills metrological requirements of dexterity tests: test-retest (intra-observer) reliability (reproducibility), inter-observer reliability (both measured by correlation coefficient), and validity of instrument of measurement. Simple, rapid and reliable, it is perfectly adapted to manual dexterity evaluation in hand immobilized with a splint.
authors.affiliation: Hand Surgery Department, CCOM, Strasbourg University Hospitals, Illkirch cedex, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Noël
authors.forename: M-C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Blancher
authors.forename: J-P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Kempf
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bodin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Facca
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khalifa-Dubert
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liverneaux
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007103:Immobilization; D008875:Middle Aged; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000379:methods*; D013165:Splints; D055815:Young Adult