• Assesses an individual’s ability to perform one handed reaching tasks while standing.
  • Consists of 21 tasks which involve performing both gross and fine motor skills; crossing midline; and lifting and lowering light and heavy objects. Examples of tasks include: lifting light objects down from the lowest shelf; stacking checkers on the counter top at the midline; lifting heavy objects up to the top shelf.

Clinical Considerations

  • The tasks simulate skills required to work in a kitchen environment but these skills are easily transferred to other environments (e.g. shopping). The tasks cover a broad range of difficulty.
  • The specialized equipment may limit its usefulness in some clinical/research settings.
  • Was originally developed using able-bodied individuals and has been modified for individuals with SCI. However, the only testing of the FST for SCI has been done in individuals with T3-6 injuries.

ICF Domain

Activity ▶ Mobility

Administration

  • Tasks are done as quickly as possible and the individual is allowed to use assistive devices such as knee-ankle-foot-orthoses (KAFO) or functional neuromuscular stimulation.
  • The mean time to complete the entire test (i.e. total standing time) was 15.58 + 2.99 minutes. Time required for each task ranged from 1.86 to 13.70 seconds for individuals with SCI.

Number of Items

21 (6 of which are the same as in the Jebsen Test of Hand Function)

Equipment

  • standard Jebsen Test board
  • a set of shelves mounted on a counter top 36 inches high (to simulate a kitchen cabinet).

Scoring

Time in minutes or seconds to complete each of the 21 tasks is recorded.

Languages

N/A

Training Required

Training is required to administer the test.

Availability

Currently unavailable.

# of studies reporting psychometric properties: 1

Interpretability

  • No normative data or published data was found for the SCI population at this time.

MCID: not established
SEM: not established
MDC: not established

Reliability

Test-retest reliability of the FST items ranges from Low to High:

  • 3 items had Low reliability (ICC < 0.4)
  • 9 items had Moderate reliability (ICC < 0.75)
  • 12 items had High reliability (ICC > 0.75).

(Triolo et al. 1994)

Validity

ANOVAs performed indicated significant (P<.05) differences between SCI and able-bodied populations, which suggests that FST may be sensitive to various standing impairments.

(Triolo et al. 1994)

Responsiveness

No values were reported for the responsiveness of the FST for the SCI population.

Floor/Ceiling Effect

No values were reported for the presence of floor/ceiling effects in the FST for the SCI population.

Reviewers

Dr. William Miller, Christie Chan, Gita Manhas

Date Last Updated

20 July 2020

Triolo RJ, Bevelheimer T, Eisenhower G, Wormser D. Inter-rater reliability of a clinical test of standing function. J Spinal Cord Med. 1994;18:14-22.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7640969

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