Responsiveness of the Figure-of-eight Tape Measurement to Detect Hand Size Changes of Patients with Acute and Chronic Hand Pathologies

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine if the figure-of-eight tape measurement method is as responsive to detect hand size changes as the volumeter is when applied by experienced hand therapists in a clinical setting. The hand sizes of 25 outpatient hand therapy patients were assessed by five trained hand therapists at initial examination, and after a minimum of two weeks of therapy, utilising both the figure-of-eight hand measurement and the volumeter technique. Dependent samples t-tests (two tailed, alpha = 0.05) were used to determine significant changes in hand size from initial to follow-up assessments. Effect size (d) and Standardized Response Mean (SRM) were used to determine the relative responsiveness of the two measures. The t-test results indicated statistically significant differences in hand size from pre- to post-test with both measures (p<.05). Effect size results showed similar responsiveness to changes in hand size (d=0.19 volumeter and 0.26 figure-of-eight; SRM=1.04 volumeter and SRM=0.87 figure of eight measure and method). The figure-of-eight measurement demonstrated similar responsiveness to changes in hand size, compared with the hand volumeter, with patients who have suffered hand injuries. Results indicate the figure-of-eight method is an appropriate alternative to measure hand size changes in patients with hand pathologies.