Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 87, Issue 11 , Pages 1471-1477, November 2006

Development of the Hand Active Sensation Test: Reliability and Validity

Presented in part to the American Physical Therapy Association’s Combined Sections Meeting, February 13, 2004, Nashville, TN.

  • Petra S. Williams, MS

      Affiliations

    • School of Physical Therapy, Ohio University, Athens, OH
    • ,
  • D. Michele Basso, EdD

      Affiliations

    • Physical Therapy Division, School of Allied Medical Professions, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
    • ,
  • Jane Case-Smith, EdD

      Affiliations

    • Occupational Therapy Division, School of Allied Medical Professions, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
    • ,
  • Deborah S. Nichols-Larsen, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Physical Therapy Division, School of Allied Medical Professions, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests to Deborah S. Nichols-Larsen, PhD, 106 Atwell Hall, 453 W 10th Ave, Columbus, OH 43210

Abstract 

Williams PS, Basso M, Case-Smith J, Nichols-Larsen DS. Development of the Hand Active Sensation Test: reliability and validity.

Objective

To develop and establish the reliability and validity of a new quantitative functional measure of haptic perception in the hand, the Hand Active Sensation Test (HASTe).

Design

Reliability was assessed by test-retest sessions. Validity was assessed via discriminant analysis, concurrent validity with 2-point discrimination and wrist position test, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve construction.

Setting

Subject preference.

Participants

Heterogeneous sample of 28 stroke survivors and 28 individually matched controls.

Intervention

Subjects used 1 hand to manipulate HASTe objects that vary by weight or texture to complete 18 match-to-sample trials.

Main Outcome Measures

Two-point discrimination threshold, Wrist Position Sense Test (WPST) average error, and HASTe accuracy score.

Results

Test-retest reliability was strong (intraclass correlation coefficient model 3,1=.77). The HASTe score significantly discriminated the groups (t=8.3, P<.001) and correlated with 2-point discrimination (r=−.67, P<.001) and WPST (r=−.60, P<.001). ROC curve area was .94 for test 1 and .92 for the average of 2 tests.

Conclusions

The HASTe is a reliable and valid functional measure of haptic perception, appears to detect impairment of haptic perception even in stroke survivors with no reported sensory deficits, and may provide valuable quantitative clinical data about complex sensory loss and hand function after stroke.

Key Words: Disability evaluation, Rehabilitation, Reliability and validity, Somatosensory disorders, Stroke

 

 No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.

PII: S0003-9993(06)00974-9

doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2006.08.019

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 87, Issue 11 , Pages 1471-1477, November 2006

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