Hand skill assessment with a reduced version of the Peg Moving Task (PMT-5) in children: Normative data and application in children with cerebral palsy

• Published in: Archives of clinical neuropsychology Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 87 - 101
• Main Authors: Nunes, Gilberto, Braga, Lucia Willadino, Rossi, Luciana, Lawisch, Vera Lucia, Nunes, Luiz Guilherme Nadal, Dellatolas, Georges
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 2008; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age Factors; Biological and medical sciences; Brazil - epidemiology; Cerebral palsy; Cerebral Palsy - physiopathology; Child; Child, Preschool; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Female; Hand; Hand skill assessment; Headache. Facial pains. Syncopes. Epilepsia. Intracranial hypertension. Brain oedema. Cerebral palsy; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Motor Skills - physiology; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Neurology; Neuropsychological Tests; Normative data; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reference Values; Sex Factors; Techniques and methods; Weights and Measures; South America; Brazil; France; Europe; America; Cerebral palsy; Hand skill assessment; Normative data; Child; Social environment; Human; Preschool age; Nervous system diseases; Crosscultural study; Aptitude test; Neuropsychological test; Psychometrics; Standards; Cerebral disorder; School age; Manual aptitude; Central nervous system disease; Adolescent; Psychometric standardization
• ISSN: 0887-6177; 1873-5843
• DOI: 10.1016/j.acn.2007.08.007

This paper proposes a simple method of hand skill assessment in children that can be useful in clinical practice. A reduced 5-hole version of Annett's Peg Moving Task was used to quantify hand skill bilaterally in 435 normally developing preschool and school-children, and adolescents aged 3–18 years from Brazil. The cross-cultural validity of the normative data obtained in Brazil was verified in 157 school-children aged 6–11 years from France. An application in 76 children with cerebral palsy (hemiplegia 21, diplegia 34, triplegia 6, mixed type 15) showed very important variability of the deficits in hand function within each subtype of cerebral palsy (CP). Hand deficits were more severe in children in special schools than in children in regular schools within each CP subtype. A qualitative analysis showed which difficulties during the execution of the task were specific to children with CP and which were also observed in normally developing children.