Modernising grip dynamometry: Inter-instrument reliability between GripAble and Jamar

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Rehabilitation Technology
• Clinical Measurement

Background:

• Maximum grip strength (MGS) is a key indicator of overall health and physiological status.
• Accurate and reliable MGS measurement tools are essential for valid health assessments.
• The GripAble, a mobile hand grip device, has been developed for MGS assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the performance of the GripAble device for measuring maximum grip strength.
• To assess the inter-instrument reliability of GripAble against the established Jamar PLUS+ dynamometer.

Main Methods:

• Sixty-three participants (N=63) provided MGS data from both hands using GripAble and Jamar PLUS+.
• Inter-instrument reliability was analyzed using Intraclass Correlation (ICC), regression, and Bland-Altman analysis.

Main Results:

• GripAble demonstrated good-to-excellent inter-instrument reliability with the Jamar PLUS+ (ICC3,1 = 0.906).
• GripAble measurements were equivalent to 69% of Jamar PLUS+ measurements.
• A proportional difference was observed, with MGS differences increasing with higher grip strength readings.

Conclusions:

• GripAble is a reliable tool for measuring grip strength.
• Direct interchange or translation of MGS readings between GripAble and Jamar PLUS+ is not recommended for serial measurements.
• Future work includes collecting normative MGS data for GripAble to facilitate comparisons.