Pinch aperture proprioception: reliability and feasibility study.
Abdalghani Yahya, Timothy von Behren, Shira Levine and 1 others
PMID 29765192WHAT IT FOUND
Healthy adults reproduced a thumb-index pinch position with average error under 2 percent over two days.
Finger vibration made most undershoot. Two patients with diabetic neuropathy also undershot, but this small device test is not yet proven for clinical decisions.
Key findings
01The device's day-to-day reproducibility was 0.88 (0.70 to 0.95), and average error was less than 2 percent.
02With tendon vibration, subjects reached 18.1 degrees on average, versus 14.8 degrees without vibration, and most undershot.
03The two patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy undershot, averaging 20.17 degrees, while matched healthy controls averaged 15 degrees.
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 neurological group was only 2 people with diabetic peripheral neuropathy, so this cannot show the device works in larger patient groups. The healthy reliability group was 21 adults, all right-handed and without hand injury, so results may not apply to injured or more diverse hands. The vibration test used an artificial disruption in 19 healthy adults, not a clinical treatment or diagnostic population. The device was lab-made and tested by one examiner, so ease of use by other therapists is not shown. The study compared angle error, not real hand function such as buttoning, writing, or picking up objects. Only one target aperture was tested, so performance across other pinch sizes is unknown.
Declared interests
The authors report no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that this device can diagnose or guide treatment for hand proprioceptive deficits in patients. It was tested mainly in 21 healthy adults, and only 2 patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy were examined, so its clinical usefulness is not established.