A comparison of the figure-of-eight method and water volumetry in measurement of hand and wrist size

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a tape measure method to assess the size of the hand and wrist. This tape measure method was designed to be readily performed, easily administered, reliable, and valid compared with water volumetry. The study sample included 50 normal consenting volunteers. Two examiners measured each hand of each subject three times, alternating hands between measurements. In the second phase of the study, the same two examiners measured both hands of the subjects using the traditional water volumetry method. The intraclass correlation coefficients for intra- and interater reliability obtained were 0.99. Pearson product-moment correlation values between the figure-of-eight tape measure and the water volumetry method for the two examiners were 0.94 and 0.95, respectively. The figure-of-eight method demonstrated excellent reliability and concurrent validity compared with the water volumetry method. These results support the application of the figure-of-eight method as a reliable and valid evaluation tool for the assessment of hand and wrist size.