Functional outcome measures for distal radius fractures: A systematic review.
Briony Norton, Benjamin Bugden, Karen Py Liu
PMID 36467517WHAT IT FOUND
DASH, ROM, and Grip dominated outcome measurement in distal radius fracture studies, but 89% of studies used multiple measures to cover both body function and activity.
No single measure captures the full picture.
Key findings
01DASH, ROM, and Grip were the three most commonly used outcome measures, with DASH and ROM each appearing in 71% of studies and Grip in 63%.
0289% of studies used more than one outcome measure, and the most common number of measures per study was four (26%).
03DASH use rose from 55% to 85% between 2012 and 2018, while ROM and Grip both fell from 89% in 2010 to 55% and 36% respectively in 2019.
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
Only English-language studies were included, so work published in other languages was missed. The quality of the 119 included studies was not rated, so a poorly designed trial and a rigorous one carry the same weight in the frequency counts. The review is limited to 2010 to 2020, so earlier or very recent work is not represented. The review did not break down measure use by cause of injury, occupation, age, gender, or hand dominance, so you cannot tell whether a particular measure is preferred for a specific subgroup.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest and received no financial support for the research, authorship, or publication.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the high DASH usage as evidence that it is the best single measure for a distal radius fracture. It does not measure range of motion or grip strength, and 89% of the studies reviewed still needed additional measures to cover both body function and activity.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →