Nancy Kashman

The primary purpose of this study was to establish clinical norms for adults aged 20 to 75+ years on four tests of hand strength. A dynamometer was used to measure grip strength and a pinch gauge to measure tip, key, and palmar pinch. A sample of 310 male and 328 female adults, ages 20 to 94, from the seven-county Milwaukee area were tested using standardized positioning and instructions. Right hand and left hand data were stratified into 12 age groups for both sexes. This stratification provides a means of comparing the score of individual patients to that of normal subjects of the same age and sex. The highest grip strength scores occurred in the 25 to 39 age groups. For tip, key, and palmar pinch the average scores were relatively stable from 20 to 59 years, with a gradual decline from 60 to 79 years. A high correlation was seen between grip strength and age, but a low to moderate correlation between pinch strength and age. The newer pinch gauge used in this study appears to read higher than that used in a previous normative study. Comparison of the average hand strength of right-handed and left-handed subjects showed only minimal differences.

The Box and Block Test, a test of manual dexterity, has been used by occupational therapists and others to evaluate physically handicapped individuals. Because the test lacked normative data for adults, the results of the test have been interpreted subjectively. The purpose of this study was to develop normative data for adults. Test subjects were 628 Normal adults (310 males and 318 females) from the seven-county Milwaukee area. Data on males and females 20 to 94 years old were divided into 12 age groups. Means, standard deviations, standard error, and low and high scores are reported for each five-year age group. These data will enable clinicians to objectively compare a patient's score to a normal population parameter.

The purposes of this study were to establish standardized procedures for the Nine Hole Peg Test of finger dexterity, to evaluate its reliability and validity, and to establish new clinical norms based on these standardized procedures. For the reliability and validity study, 26 female occupational therapy students were tested Very high interrater reliability (right r = .97, left r = .99) was found Test-retest reliability was reported to be moderate to high (right r = .69, left r = .43) and a significant practice effect was found between the test and retest occasions. Possible variables that may have affected these results are discussed To evaluate concurrent validity, the Nine Hole Peg Test was compared to the Purdue Pegboard. The observed correlations (right r = −.61, left r = −.53) indicated that the tests are similar but not equivalent tests of finger dexterity. For the normative data study, 628 normal subjects from 20 to 94 years were tested Data were stratified by sex and by 12 age groups to allow the therapist to easily compare patients' scores to a normative population Data showed that females scored slightly better than males, finger dexterity decreased with age, and right-hand and left-hand dominant subjects demonstrated minimal differences in performance.