Abstract
Objective
To provide an overview of applied upper limb outcome measures in multiple sclerosis
(MS) according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) levels and to review their psychometric properties in MS.
Data Sources
PubMed and Web of Knowledge.
Study Selection
Articles published until June 2013 were selected when written in English, published
in the last 25 years, peer reviewed, including >5 persons with MS, and including standardized
clinical upper limb outcome measures. Included articles were screened based on title/abstract
and full text by 2 independent reviewers. In case of doubt, feedback from a third
independent reviewer was obtained. Additionally, references lists were checked for
relevant articles. Of the articles, 109 met the selection criteria and were included
for data extraction.
Data Extraction
All reported clinical upper limb outcome measures were extracted from the included
studies and classified according to the ICF levels by 2 independent reviewers. In
addition, available psychometric properties (reliability, validity, responsiveness)
in MS were summarized and discussed.
Data Synthesis
A diversity of outcome measures assessing impairments on the body functions and structures
level (n=33), upper limb capacity (n=11), and performance (n=8) on the activity level
were extracted from 109 articles. Hand grip strength and the nine-hole peg test (NHPT)
were the most frequently used outcome measures. However, multiple outcome measures
are necessary to encapsulate the multidimensional character of the upper limb function.
The psychometric properties were insufficiently documented for most of the outcome
measures, except for the NHPT.
Conclusions
The results of this review may help with the selection of appropriate outcome measures
and may guide future research regarding the psychometric properties in MS.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
ADL (activities of daily living), ARAT (Action Research Arm Test), BBT (Box and Block Test), DASH (Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand), ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health), MAL (Motor Activity Log), MAM-36 (Manual Ability Measure-36), MS (multiple sclerosis), NHPT (nine-hole peg test), PwMS (persons with multiple sclerosis)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 17, 2014
Footnotes
Lamers is supported by a PhD fellowship from the Research Council of Hasselt University (Bijzonder onderzoeksfonds grant); Baert is partially funded via an unrestricted educational grant from Novartis Pharma AG to the European Rehabilitation in Multiple Sclerosis network.
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has conferred or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
