The feasibility of using a stopwatch to measure thumb-movement time was examined. The measurements, which did not differ significantly between the nondominant and dominant hands, possessed high intrasession reliability. The measurements discriminated between 19 apparently healthy individuals and 19 older patients with a variety of diagnoses.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BoberT.PutnamC. A., & WoodworthG. G. (1987) Factors influencing the angular velocity of a human limb segment. Journal of Biomechanics, 20, 522–527.
2.
BohannonR. W. (1992) Knee extension power, velocity, and torque: relative deficits and relation to walking performance in stroke patients. Clinical Rehabilitation, 6, 125–131.
3.
BrownJ. K.RoddaJ.WalshE. G., & WrightG. W. (1991) Neurophysiology of lower-limb function in hemiplegic children. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 33, 1037–1047.
4.
HouxP. J., & JollesJ. (1993) Age-related decline of psychomotor speed: effects of age, brain, health, sex, and education. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 76, 195–211.
5.
IvesJ. D.KrollW. P., & BultmanL. L. (1993) Rapid movement kinematic and electromyographic control characteristics in males and females. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 64, 274–283.
6.
KayJ. A.OkenB. S.HowiesonD. B.HowiesonD. B.HolmL. A., & DennisonK. (1994) Neurologic evaluation of the optimally healthy oldest old. Archives of Neurology, 51, 1205–1211.
7.
KennedyW. R.NavarroX., & StewartN. J. (1991) Quantitation of the alternate movement rate in normal and diabetic subjects. Muscle & Nerve, 14, 1231–1235.
8.
KnutssonE., & MartenssonA. (1971) Quantitative effects of L-dopa on different types of movements and muscle tone in Parkinsonian patients. Scandinavian Journal of Rehabilitation Mediane, 3, 121–130.
9.
ResnickJ. S.MammelM.MundaleM. O., & KottkeJ. (1981) Muscle strength as an index of response to therapy in childhood dermatomyositis. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 62, 12–19.
10.
SalthouseT. Z., & SombergB. L. (1982) Isolating the age deficit in speeded performance. Journal of Gerontology, 37, 59–63.
11.
ShroutP. E., & FleissJ. L. (1979) Intraclass correlarions: uses in assessing rater reliability. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 420–428.
12.
SwaeneB. R., & SullivanJ. (1992) Relation between clinical and instrumented measures of motor coordination in traumatically brain injured persons. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 73, 55–59.
13.
WorthinctonJ. A., & DesouzaL. H. (1989) A simple measurement of speed of index finger movement. Clinical Rehabilitation, 3, 117–123.
