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  2. Sollerman Hand Function Test

Sollerman Hand Function Test

Last Updated

Purpose

A 20-item objective measure designed to assess hand function with 7 different hand grips of persons with hand dysfunction.

Link to Instrument

Instrument Details

Acronym SHFT

Area of Assessment

Functional Mobility

Assessment Type

Performance Measure

Administration Mode

Paper & Pencil

Cost

Not Free

Cost Description

Unknown (refer to article): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7569815

Diagnosis/Conditions

  • Arthritis + Joint Conditions
  • Spinal Cord Injury
  • Stroke Recovery

Populations

Chronic Pain
Non-Specific Patient Population
Spinal Injuries
Stroke

Key Descriptions

  • 20 items
  • Subject is given 60 seconds to complete each item.
  • Item level scores range from 0-4, determined by ability to perform task.
  • Item scores are summed.
  • Maximum score = 80
  • Test is administered in seated position with equipment box placed in front of subject.

Number of Items

20

Equipment Required

  • Door handle with lock
  • Coins and coin purse
  • Zipper
  • Wooden cubes
  • Iron
  • Screwdriver
  • Nuts
  • Jars with lids
  • Buttons
  • Play dough with knife and fork
  • Stocking on hand
  • Pen
  • Paper
  • Envelope
  • Telephone
  • Jug
  • Cup
  • Cardboard container

Time to Administer

20 minutes

Required Training

Reading an Article/Manual

Age Ranges

Adult

18 - 64

years

Instrument Reviewers

Initially reviewed by Wendy Romney, PT, DPT, NCS, Cara Weisbach, PT, DPT, and the SCI EDGE task force of the Neurology Section of the APTA in 9/2012.

Body Part

Upper Extremity

ICF Domain

Body Function
Activity
Participation

Measurement Domain

Motor

Professional Association Recommendation

 

Recommendations for use of the instrument from the Neurology Section of the American Physical Therapy Association’s Multiple Sclerosis Taskforce (MSEDGE), Parkinson’s Taskforce (PD EDGE), Spinal Cord Injury Taskforce (PD EDGE), Stroke Taskforce (StrokEDGE), Traumatic Brain Injury Taskforce (TBI EDGE), and Vestibular Taskforce (VEDGE) are listed below. These recommendations were developed by a panel of research and clinical experts using a modified Delphi process.

 

For detailed information about how recommendations were made, please visit:  

 

Abbreviations:

 

HR

Highly Recommend

R

Recommend

LS / UR

Reasonable to use, but limited study in target group  / Unable to Recommend

NR

Not Recommended

 

Recommendations for use based on acuity level of the patient:

 

Acute

(CVA < 2 months post)

(SCI < 1 month post) 

(Vestibular < 6 weeks post)

Subacute

(CVA 2 to 6 months)

(SCI 3 to 6 months)

Chronic

(> 6 months)

SCI EDGE

LS

LS

LS

 

Recommendations based on SCI AIS Classification: 

 

AIS A/B

AIS C/D

SCI EDGE

LS

LS

 

Recommendations for entry-level physical therapy education and use in research:

 

Students should learn to administer this tool? (Y/N)

Students should be exposed to tool? (Y/N)

Appropriate for use in intervention research studies? (Y/N)

Is additional research warranted for this tool (Y/N)

SCI EDGE

No

No

No

Not reported

Considerations

  • The measure requires several items (see above)
  • The box used in the original article (Fig 2) may not be readily available

Do you see an error or have a suggestion for this instrument summary? Please e-mail us!

Stroke

back to Populations

Test/Retest Reliability

Chronic Stroke:

(Brogardh, Persson & Sjoland, 2006, n = 26, mean age 59.7 years, 29.6 months post CVA) 

  • Excellent test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.96-0.98)

Interrater/Intrarater Reliability

Chronic Stroke:

(Brogardh, Persson & Sjolund, 2006) 

  • Excellent Interrater reliability (ICC = 0.96-0.98) 
  • Excellent Intrarater reliability (ICC = 0.96-0.99)

Spinal Injuries

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Criterion Validity (Predictive/Concurrent)

Concurrent Validity

Tetraplegia:

(Sollerman & Ejeskar, 1995) 

  • Excellent correlation between Sollerman and subjective rating of hand function on visual analog scale (r = 0.68)
  • Excellent correlation between Sollerman and disability rating scale (established for insurance purposes in Sweden) for persons with hand dysfunction (r = 0.88)

Construct Validity

Convergent Validity

Tetraplegia:

(Fattal, 2004, n = 52, > 3 months post-SCI, > 3 month post reconstruction surgery) 

  • Excellent correlation between Sollerman and Motor Capacity Scale (r = 0.959)

Chronic Pain

back to Populations

Criterion Validity (Predictive/Concurrent)

Concurrent Validity

Gout:

(Dalbeth et al, 2007; n = 40 patients of a hand physiotherapy practice who were enrolled in a clinical trial; mean age = 59.7(9) for the experimental group and 61.2(12.5) for the control group)

  • Adequate correlation between the number of joints with hand tophus joint count (tophi) and Sollerman Hand Function Test score (r = 0.59)
  • Excellent correlation between tophi, sex, number of gout flares within the past six months, disease duration, and hand tender joint count and the Sollerman Hand Function Test (r = 0.81)

Construct Validity

Convergent Validity

Gout:

(Dalbeth et al, 2007)

  • Excellent correlation between Sollerman and FTP distance (r = -0.731) 
  • Excellent correlation between Sollerman and Grip strength (r = 0.731) 
  • Excellent correlation between Sollerman and DASH (r = -0.887) 
  • Excellent correlation between Sollerman and HAQ-DI (r = -0.811) 
  • Excellent correlation between Sollerman and SF-36 (r = 0.867)

Non-Specific Patient Population

back to Populations

Standard Error of Measurement (SEM)

Chronic Burns:

(Weng et al, 2010, n = 12 (21 hands)) 

  • SEM = 2.6

Minimal Detectable Change (MDC)

Chronic Burns:

(Weng et al, 2010)

  • MDC = 6.7-6.9

Normative Data

Normal Population:

(Sollerman & Ejeskar, 1995, n = 59, tested prior to hand or arm reconstruction surgery)

  • Dominant Hand Score = 80/80 
  • Non-Dominant hand = 77 - 79/80

Interrater/Intrarater Reliability

Chronic Burns:

(Weng et al, 2010, 3 - 25 months since injury) 

  • Excellent Interrater reliability (ICC = 0.98) 
  • Excellent Intrarater reliability (ICC = 0.98)

Bibliography

Brogardh, C. and Sjolund, B. H. (2006). "Constraint-induced movement therapy in patients with stroke: a pilot study on effects of small group training and of extended mitt use." Clinical Rehabilitation 20(3): 218-227. 

Fattal, C. (2004). "Motor capacities of upper limbs in tetraplegics: a new scale for the assessment of the results of functional surgery on upper limbs." Spinal Cord 42(2): 80-90. 

Sollerman, C. and Ejeskar, A. (1995). "Sollerman hand function test. A standardised method and its use in tetraplegic patients." Scandinavian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery 29(2): 167-176. 

Weng, L. Y., Hsieh, C. L., et al. (2010). "Excellent reliability of the Sollerman hand function test for patients with burned hands." J Burn Care Res 31(6): 904-910. 

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