Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 28, 2026
Lower Limb Biomechanical Analysis of Healthy Participants
Published on: April 15, 2020
Effect of an Arm-Span-Adjusted Hand Position on Closed Kinetic Chain Upper Extremity Stability Test Performance and
Filippos Christodoulou1, Petros Maniatis1, Andreas Erotocritou1
1Department of Health Sciences, Physiotherapy Program, University of Nicosia, 46 Makedonitissas Avenue, 1700 Nicosia, Cyprus.
Background:
The Closed Kinetic Chain Upper Extremity Stability Test (CKCUEST) is used to assess upper-extremity performance in a closed kinetic chain position. The standard hand placement of 36 inches may favor individuals with larger body dimensions.
Methods:
Sixty-five healthy adults (44 males, 21 females; 18-33 years) performed the CKCUEST under two conditions: the standard position and a modified position with hand distance set at 50% of arm span. The mean number of touches, standard score, and power score were calculated for each condition. Reliability and the effects of sex and body composition were also examined.
Results:
Performance was significantly better in the modified position for mean touches (24.4 ± 4.47 vs. 23.0 ± 4.62, p = 0.001), standard score (0.4 ± 0.07 vs. 0.3 ± 0.06, p = 0.001), and power (81.1 ± 18.29 vs. 77.1 ± 22.00, p = 0.001). Both conditions showed excellent reliability (ICC = 0.944-0.946). Females performed significantly fewer touches than males in the standard position (p = 0.001), whereas this difference was not significant in the modified position. Several anthropometric and body composition variables significantly predicted performance.
Conclusions:
An arm-span-adjusted hand position improves CKCUEST performance and may provide a fairer assessment across individuals with different body dimensions.
