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Updated: Jun 23, 2025
Design, Fabrication, and Administration of the Hand Active Sensation Test HASTe
Published on: September 8, 2015
The Bead Maze Hand Function Test for Children
Vivian L Rose1, Anaga Ajoy2, Craig A Johnston3
1Vivian L. Rose, MSPO, is Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Health and Human Performance, University of Houston, Houston, TX.
Insights
The new Bead Maze Hand Function (BMHF) test objectively measures pediatric hand function using a sensor-equipped toy. This reliable tool sensitively assesses children's movement quality, with results influenced by age and task difficulty.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric occupational therapy
- Movement science
- Biomedical engineering
Background:
- Objective assessment of pediatric hand function is crucial for evaluating movement quality.
- Existing methods may lack sensitivity or objectivity in quantifying fine motor skills.
- A novel, toy-based approach can enhance engagement and data collection in children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Bead Maze Hand Function (BMHF) test.
- To determine the influence of participant age and task complexity on BMHF test measures.
- To establish the reliability and validity of the BMHF test for pediatric hand function assessment.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional, observational study involving 23 typically developing children (ages 4-15).
- Participants performed the sensor-equipped BMHF test and the Box and Block test with both hands.
- Linear mixed-effects models analyzed force and time data; intraclass correlation coefficients assessed interrater reliability.
Main Results:
- Total force and completion time decreased with increasing age and task complexity.
- Total force measures were more sensitive to variations in task difficulty.
- The BMHF test demonstrated excellent interrater reliability and moderate concurrent validity with the Box and Block test.
Conclusions:
- The sensor-equipped Bead Maze Hand Function (BMHF) test is a sensitive and reliable tool for objectively assessing pediatric hand function.
- The test effectively quantifies movement quality, with sensitivity to age and task complexity.
- This toy-based assessment offers a promising method for clinical and research applications in pediatric occupational therapy.
Importance:
There is a need for a pediatric hand function test that can be used to objectively assess movement quality. We have developed a toy-based test, the Bead Maze Hand Function (BMHF) test, to quantify how well a child performs an activity. This is achieved by assessing the control of forces applied while drawing a bead over wires of different complexity.
Objective:
To study the psychometric properties of the BMHF test and understand the influence of age and task complexity on test measures.
Design:
A cross-sectional, observational study performed in a single visit.
Setting:
Clinical research laboratory.
Participants:
Twenty-three participants (ages 4-15 yr) were recruited locally. They were typically developing children with no illness or conditions that affected their movement. Interventions/Assessments: Participants performed the BMHF test and the Box and Block test with both hands.
Outcomes And Measures:
Total force and completion time were examined according to age and task complexity using a linear mixed-effects model. We calculated intraclass correlation coefficients to measure interrater reliability of the method and estimated concurrent validity using the Box and Block test.
Results:
Total force and completion time decreased with age and depended on task complexity. The total force was more sensitive to task complexity. The Box and Block score was associated with BMHF completion time but not with total force. We found excellent interrater reliability.
Conclusions And Relevance:
A familiar toy equipped with hidden sensors provides a sensitive tool to assess a child's typical hand function. Plain-Language Summary: We developed the Bead Maze Hand Function (BMHF) test to determine how well a child performs an activity with their hands. The BMHF test is a toy equipped with hidden sensors. Twenty-three typically developing children with no illnesses or conditions that affected their hand movement participated in the study. We asked the children to perform the BMHF test with both hands. Our study found that occupational therapists can reliably use the BMHF test to assess a child's hand function.
