On the assessment of coordination between upper extremities: towards a common language between rehabilitation engineers, clinicians and neuroscientists.
Camila Shirota, Jelka Jansa, Javier Diaz and 4 others
PMID 27608923WHAT IT FOUND
Clinicians and engineers currently use incompatible definitions and metrics for upper-limb coordination, preventing standardized assessment.
This review proposes a common taxonomy to align terminology, aiming to bridge the gap between clinical functional measures and robotic assessment tools.
Key findings
01There is no standard clinical assessment that objectively and quantitatively measures individual components of body function, such as coordination, in isolation.
02The lack of a common language and standard terminology across fields is a major barrier to relating observations and moving the science forward.
03Most bilateral training devices developed to date do not provide tools for assessing interlimb coordination, despite being motivated by its importance in daily life.
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
This is a narrative review, not a systematic review, so the selection of cited studies reflects the authors' judgment rather than an exhaustive search. The proposed taxonomy is a theoretical framework and has not yet been validated or tested in clinical practice. The review focuses on upper-limb interlimb coordination and does not address intralimb (finger/hand) coordination or lower-limb patterns.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the proposed taxonomy as a validated clinical tool or a standard of care. It is a conceptual framework intended to facilitate future research and communication between disciplines, not a ready-to-use assessment protocol.