Abstract
Study design
Psychometric study.
Objectives
This study aimed to evaluate the internal consistency and validity of the Italian version of the Jebsen–Taylor hand function test (JTHFT-IT) in people with tetraplegia.
Setting
Italian spinal units.
Methods
Psychometric properties of the JTHFT-IT were assessed following international guidelines. The internal consistency was examined using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was calculated for the concurrent validity of JTHFT-IT with a dynamometer, while the construct validity was calculated in comparison to that of the Van Lieshout test short version in Italian (VLT-SV-IT).
Results
The test was administered to 48 right-hand dominant people with tetraplegia. Cronbach’s alpha calculation resulted in a value of 0.96 for the right hand and 0.94 for the left hand. In terms of the validity of the scale, the Pearson’s correlation, as measured in relation to the VLT-SV-IT and dynamometer, showed statistically significant results (range for the correlation coefficient of between −0.96 and −0.12, p < 0.05).
Conclusions
The findings of this study support the internal consistency and validity of the JTHFT-IT and its use among a population with cervical SCI as a measure of hand functionality.
Similar content being viewed by others
Log in or create a free account to read this content
Gain free access to this article, as well as selected content from this journal and more on nature.com
or
Data archiving
The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
References
Martin R, Johnston K, Sadowsky C. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation-assisted grasp training and restoration of function in the tetraplegic hand: a case series. Am J Occup Ther. 2012;66:471–7.
Carrasco-Lopez C, Jimenez S, Mosqueda-Pozon MC, Pérez-Borrego YA, Alcobendas-Maestro M, Gallego-Izquierdo T, et al. New insights from clinical assessment of upper extremities in cervical traumatic spinal cord injury. J Neurotrauma. 2016;33:1724–7.
Hoffman LR, Field-Fote EC. Functional and corticomotor changes in individuals with tetraplegia following unimanual or bimanual massed practice training with somatosensory stimulation: a pilot study. J Neurol Phys Ther. 2010;34:193–201.
Whalley Hammell KR. Spinal cord injury rehabilitation research: patient priorities, current deficiencies and potential directions. Disabil Rehabil. 2010;32:1209–18.
Simpson LA, Eng JJ, Hsieh JTC, Wolfe DL. The health and life priorities of individuals with spinal cord injury: a systematic review. J Neurotrauma. 2012;29:1548–55.
Hsieh CL, Hsueh IP, Chiang FM, Lin PH. Inter-rater reliability and validity of the action research arm test in stroke patients. Age Ageing. 1998;27:107–13.
Hudak PL, Amadio PC, Bombardier C. Development of an upper extremity outcome measure: the DASH. Am J Ind Med. 1996;29:602–8.
Post MWM, Van Lieshout G, Seelen HAM, Snoek GJ, IJzerman MJ, Pons C. Measurement properties of the short version of the Van Lieshout test for arm/hand function of persons with tetraplegia after spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord. 2006;44:763–71.
Berardi A, Biondillo A, Marquez MA, De Santis R, Fabbrini G, Tofani M, et al. Validation of the short version of the Van Lieshout test in an Italian population with cervical spinal cord injuries: a cross-sectional study. Spinal Cord. 2019;57:339–45.
Land NE, Odding E, Duivenvoorden HJ, Bergen MP, Stam HJ. Tetraplegia hand activity questionnaire (THAQ): the development, assessment of arm-hand function-related activities in tetraplegic patients with a spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord. 2004;42:294–301.
Wuolle KS, Van Doren CL, Thrope GB, Keith MW, Peckham PH. Development of a quantitative hand grasp and release test for patients with tetraplegia using a hand neuroprosthesis. J Hand Surg Am. 1994;19:209–18.
Kalsi-Ryan S, Curt A, Verrier MC, Fehlings MG. Development of the graded redefined assessment of strength, sensibility and prehension (GRASSP): reviewing measurement specific to the upper limb in tetraplegia. J Neurosurg Spine. 2012;17:65–76.
Catz A, Itzkovich M, Agranov E, Ring H, Tamir A. SCIM—spinal cord independence measure: a new disability scale for patients with spinal cord lesions. Spinal Cord. 1997;35:850–6.
Keith RA, Granger CV, Hamilton BB, Sherwin FS. The functional independence measure: a new tool for rehabilitation. Adv Clin Rehabil. 1987;1:6–18.
Gresham GE, Labi ML, Dittmar SS, Hicks JT, Joyce SZ, Stehlik MA. The quadriplegia index of function (QIF): sensitivity and reliability demonstrated in a study of thirty quadriplegic patients. Paraplegia. 1986;24:38–44.
Galeoto G, Berardi A, De Santis R, Di Valentini L, Beccasio R, Marquez MA, et al. Validation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Van Lieshout test in an Italian population with cervical spinal cord injury: a psychometric study. Spinal Cord Ser Cases. 2018;4:49.
Resnik L, Borgia M, Silver B, Cancio J. Systematic review of measures of impairment and activity limitation for persons with upper limb trauma and amputation. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2017;98:1863–1892.e14.
Jebsen RH, Taylor N, Trieschmann RB, Trotter MJ. Howard La. An objective and standardized test of hand function. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1969;50:311–9.
Nobilia M, Culicchia G, Tofani M, De Santis R, Savona A, Guarino D, et al. Italian Version of the Jebsen–Taylor Hand Function Test for the Assessment of Hand Disorders: A Cross-Sectional Study. Am J Occup Ther 2019;73:7303205080p1–7303205080p6.
Agnew P, Maas F. An interim Australian version of the jebsen test of hand function. Aust J Physiother. 1982;28:23–9.
Li-Tsang CWP, Chan SCC, Chan SYY. The Hong Kong Chinese version of the Jebsen Hand Function test: inter-rater and test–retest reliabilities. Hong Kong J OccupTher. 2004;14:12–20.
Ferreiro KN, Santos RL, Conforto AB. Psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Jebsen–Taylor test for adults with mild hemiparesis. Braz J Phys Ther. 2010;14:377–82.
Savona A, Ferralis L, Saffioti M, Tofani M, Nobilia M, Culicchia G, et al. Evaluation of intra- and inter-rater reliability and concurrent validity of the Italian version of the Jebsen–Taylor Hand Function Test in adults with rheumatoid arthritis. Hand Therapy 2019;24:48–54.
Berardi A, Saffioti M, Tofani M, Nobilia M, Culicchia G, Valente D. et al. Internal consistency and validity of the Jebsen–Taylor hand function test in an Italian population with hemiparesis. NeuroRehabilitation. 2019;45:331–9.
Tofani M, Castelli E, Sabbadini M, Berardi A, Murgia M, Servadio A. et al. Examining reliability and validity of the Jebsen-Taylor Hand function test among children with cerebral palsy. Percept Mot Skills. 2020;127:684–97.
Hamilton GF, McDonald C, Chenier TC. Measurement of grip strength: validity and reliability of the sphygmomanometer and jamar grip dynamometer. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 1992;16:215–9.
Sisto SA, Dyson-Hudson T. Dynamometry testing in spinal cord injury. J Rehabil Res Dev. 2007;44:123–36.
Mokkink LB, de Vet HCW, Prinsen CAC, Patrick DL, Alonso J, Bouter LM. et al. COSMIN Risk of Bias checklist for systematic reviews of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures. Qual Life Re. 2018;27:1171–9.
Santilli V, Alviti F, Agostini F, Conte V, Bernetti A. “Linee guida ed evidenze scientifiche in Medicina Fisica e Riabilitativa” (http://www.formazionesostenibile.it/2017/RomeRehabilitation/libro_per_sito.pdf); Centro Stampa – Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”; 2017.
Noreau L, Vachon J. Comparison of three methods to assess muscular strength in individuals with spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord. 1998;36:716–23.
Spooren AI, Janssen-Potten YJ, Post MW, Kerckhofs E, Nene A, Seelen HA. Measuring change in arm hand skilled performance in persons with cervical spinal cord injury: responsiveness of the Van Lieshout Test. Spinal Cord. 2006;44:772–9.
Reinkensmeyer DJ, Dietz V. Neurorehabilitation Technology. 2nd edn., Zurich, Switzerland: Springer; 2011.
Cardenas D. Spinal Cord Medicine. 2nd edn., New York: Principles & Practice; 2012.
Duruoz MT. Hand Function: A Practical Guide to Assessment. Zurich, Switzerland: Springer; 2014.
Il protocollo della mano funzionale - CNOPUS. Available at: http://www.cnopus.it/il-protocollo-della-mano-funzionale/.
Formazionesostenibile.it. (2018). Available at: http://www.formazionesostenibile.it/2017/RomeRehabilitation/libro_per_sito.pdf.
Van Tuijl JH, Janssen-Potten YJ, Seelen HA. Evaluation of upper extremity motor function tests in tetraplegics. Spinal Cord 2002;40:51–64.
Allgöwer K, Hermsdörfer J. Fine motor skills predict performance in the Jebsen Taylor Hand Function Test after stroke. Clin Neurophysiol. 2017;128:858–71.
Artilheiro MC, Fávero FM, Caromano FA. Reliability, validity and description of timed performance of the Jebsen–Taylor Test in patients with muscular dystrophies. Braz J Phys Ther. 2018;22:190–7.
Sears ED, Chung KC. Validity and responsiveness of the Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test. J Hand Surg Am. 2010;35:30–7.
van de Ven-Stevens LA, Munneke M, Terwee CB, Spauwen PH, van der Linde H. Clinimetric properties of instruments to assess activities in patients with hand injury: a systematic review of the literature. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2009;90:151–69.
Triolo RJ, Bevelheimer T, Eisenhower G, Wormser D. Inter-rater reliability of a clinical test of standing function. J Spinal Cord Med. 1995;18:14–22.
Funding
The authors state that this work has not received any funding.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Research project—conception: GG, AB, and MT; organization: MMA and FP; execution: MN and GC. Statistical analysis—design: GG, AB, and MT; execution: GG; review and critique: MMA and FP. Manuscript—writing of the first draft: MN and GC; review and critique: AB and FP.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Statement of ethics
Authors certify that all applicable institutional and governmental regulations concerning the ethical use of human volunteers were followed during the course of this research. All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008. Informed consent was obtained from all participants for being included in the study. Institutional Review Board approval was not required because the administration of these tool was part of the usual process of assessment of these individuals in clinical practice, the research involved the analysis of data collected such that individual subjects cannot be identified in any way.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Panuccio, F., Galeoto, G., Marquez, M.A. et al. Internal consistency and validity of the Italian version of the Jebsen–Taylor hand function test (JTHFT-IT) in people with tetraplegia. Spinal Cord 59, 266–273 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-020-00602-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-020-00602-4
This article is cited by
-
Permanent deterioration of fine motor skills after the resection of tumors in the supplementary motor area
Neurosurgical Review (2024)
-
Efficacy of aquatic therapy in people with spinal cord injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Spinal Cord (2023)
-
The Moorong Self Efficacy Scale: translation, cultural adaptation, and validation in Italian; cross sectional study, in people with spinal cord injury
Spinal Cord Series and Cases (2022)
