Clinical Applicability and Psychometric Properties of Manual Function Test for Patients with Stroke

The Manual Function Test (MFT) is a tool to assess upper extremity motor impairment associated with stroke. This study investigated psychometric properties of the Korean version of the MFT and to establish normative data. Eighty-one patients were enrolled to evaluate MFT, Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) and manual muscle test (MMT). MFT was completed by eight raters on two occasions separated by 6 weeks. Absolute and relative reliability and validity were examined. Additionally, MFT was assessed on 75 healthy controls of different ages. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) (2,1) values for total and each dimension of Korean MFT ranged from 0.984 to 0.998 in the affected side of hemiplegic patients, indicating inter-rater reliability. Percentage values of standard error of measurement (SEM) and smallest real difference (SRD) ranged 3.10-10.57% and 8.58-29.29% respectively. Test-retest reliability ICCs for all raters were above 0.98. Effect size (ES) and standardized response mean (SRM) were larger in the acute-subacute group (onset to initial evaluation ≤ 4 months) (ES = 0.12; SRM = 0.41) than those in the chronic group (onset to evaluation > 4 months) (ES = 0.01; SRM = 0.11). MFT score was significantly correlated with FMA score (p < 0.001) and MMT score (p < 0.001). In healthy controls, regression analysis indicated that age significantly predicts manual function scores on both dominant and non-dominant. The Korean MFT showed good reliability and validity. Modest responsiveness was observed in patients evaluated early after stroke onset. The Korean MFT is useful in evaluating upper extremity motor deficits for clinical and research purposes.