Assessment of arm hand functioning in children with a congenital transverse or longitudinal reduction deficiency of the upper limb

• Published in: Disability and rehabilitation 2006-01, Vol.28 (2), p.85-95
• Main Authors: Buffart, Laurien M., Roebroeck, Marij E., Pesch-Batenburg, Josemiek M.F.B., Janssen, Wim G.M., Stam, Henk J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Adolescent; Adult; Arm/hand use; Artificial Limbs; bimanual activities; Child; Child, Preschool; Disability Evaluation; Disabled Children - rehabilitation; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Psychometrics; quality of movement; Surveys and Questionnaires; Task Performance and Analysis; Upper Extremity - physiology; Upper Extremity Deformities, Congenital - physiopathology; Upper Extremity Deformities, Congenital - rehabilitation
• ISSN: 0963-8288; 1464-5165
• DOI: 10.1080/09638280500158406

Purpose. 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. Method. 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.