Within-Session Practice Effects in the Jebsen Hand Function Test (JHFT)

Sydney Y Schaefer; Ashley Saba; Jessica F Baird; Melissa B Kolar; Kevin Duff; Jill C Stewart

doi:10.5014/ajot.2018.024745

Within-Session Practice Effects in the Jebsen Hand Function Test (JHFT)

Am J Occup Ther. 2018 Nov/Dec;72(6):7206345010p1-7206345010p5. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2018.024745.

Authors

Sydney Y Schaefer¹, Ashley Saba², Jessica F Baird³, Melissa B Kolar⁴, Kevin Duff⁵, Jill C Stewart⁶

Affiliations

¹ Sydney Y. Schaefer, PhD, is Assistant Professor, School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training, University of Utah, Salt Lake City; sydney.schaefer@asu.edu.
² Ashley Saba, DPT, was Doctoral Candidate, Physical Therapy Program, Department of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, at the time of the study.
³ Jessica F. Baird, PhD, is Postdoctoral Fellow, Physical Therapy Program, Department of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, and Department of Physical Therapy, University of Alabama, Birmingham. She collaborated on this research while she was at the University of South Carolina, Columbia.
⁴ Melissa B. Kolar, PhD, was Doctoral Candidate, Physical Therapy Program, Department of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, at the time of the study.
⁵ Kevin Duff, PhD, is Professor, Department of Neurology and Center for Alzheimer's Care, Imaging, and Research, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
⁶ Jill C. Stewart, PhD, PT, is Assistant Professor, Physical Therapy Program, Department of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia.

Abstract

The Jebsen Hand Function Test (JHFT) is a standardized assessment that has been used as a clinical outcome measure. To appropriately interpret the effects of an intervention on hand function (as measured by the JHFT), the extent to which this instrument shows significant practice effects must be quantified. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the JHFT is susceptible to within-session practice effects. The results showed that the dominant and nondominant hands significantly improved on the JHFT and many of its subtests over six consecutive trials. Although practice effects might complicate the interpretation of change due to intervention, we briefly relate our findings to emerging neuropsychological evidence that practice effects may indicate a person's motor learning potential or treatment responsiveness.

Grants and funding

K01 AG047926/AG/NIA NIH HHS/United States