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Manual Ability Measure (MAM-16): A Preliminary Report on a New Patient-Centred and Task-Oriented Outcome Measure of Hand Function

From the Department of Occupational Therapy, New York University, USA, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA, Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation, Amherst, NY, USA, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI, USA, Hand Center of Western New York, Miller Fillmore Hospital, Buffalo, NY, USA and Optimal Therapy Associates, Buffalo, NY, USA

Correspondence: *Dr Christine C. Chen, MA, MS, ScD, OT, Department of Occupational Therapy, New York University, 34 W. 4th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10012, USA. Tel.: +212 998 5852; fax: +212 995 4404. E-mail: cc103{at}nyu.edu

The purpose of this study was to develop an easy-to-use and psychometrically sound outcome instrument that is task-oriented and patient-centred. One hundred fifteen patients with a variety of hand impairments completed a rating scale of perceived manual ability (i.e., the Manual Ability Measure). The first 70 patients also completed two other questionnaires about physical health and psychological well-being. Rasch Analyses were conducted to transform the ordinal ratings into linear measures; Rasch statistics were used to evaluate its measurement properties at both scale and item levels. Eighty-three original items were reduced to 16 common tasks; Rasch reliabilities were good; the easy-to-difficult item hierarchy makes sense clinically. Moderate correlations were found between manual ability, physical function and general sense of well-being. The results of this preliminary study suggest that the MAM is a promising outcome measure that has adequate psychometric properties and can be used to complement other objective clinical measurements.

Key Words: hand disability • patient perception • functional outcome • Rasch measurement

Journal of Hand Surgery (British and European Volume), Vol. 30, No. 2, 207-216 (2005)
DOI: 10.1016/J.JHSB.2004.12.005


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