Development and validation of the coffee task: a novel functional assessment for prosthetic grip selection.
Christina Lee, Alex K Vaskov, Alicia J Davis and 2 others
PMID 38331908WHAT IT FOUND
The Coffee Task reliably measures prosthetic grip selection in healthy users.
It tracks skill improvement with practice but cannot distinguish between trigger and pattern recognition control. Use it to monitor rehabilitation progress, not to compare controller types.
Key findings
01Inter-rater reliability was excellent for both task versions, with ICCs of 0.991 for completion time and 0.981 for errors.
02The task was responsive to practice, with large effect sizes for improvements in time and errors, but showed no responsiveness to the type of control approach used.
03Performance correlated moderately with the Box and Block Test, indicating the Coffee Task measures similar but distinct aspects of manual dexterity.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study used healthy participants with a prosthetic emulator, so results may not directly translate to individuals with actual limb loss. The task was only validated for right-handed prostheses. The study could not distinguish between the two control approaches, possibly due to varied learning strategies among participants. Fatigue may have affected performance despite scheduled breaks.
Declared interests
The authors declared no competing interests. The study was supported by non-U.S. government funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume the Coffee Task can help choose between trigger and pattern recognition control. It showed no responsiveness to the control approach, meaning it cannot differentiate performance between these two methods.