Hand impairment assessment: some suggestions

A critical review is made of hand impairment assessment from an occupational therapy and ergonomics perspective. This article concludes that a concerted move be made towards a standardisation of hand function assessment. Also, to make meaningful quantitative statements concerning performance of arthritic people, comparison with 'fit' elderly cohorts is necessary. There is a great need for normative data on strength and joint range from elderly people. Finally, an innovative application of motion-time-measurement is proposed as a potential avenue for future hand function assessment of elderly and disabled people.