Tool Description

  • Designed to measure grips that are needed for certain ADLs such as eating, driving, personal hygiene, and writing.
  • Includes subtests that represent common handgrips (volar, transverse volar, spherical volar and pinch positions – pulp, lateral, tripod, and the five finger) and activities (using a key; picking up coins from a flat surface; writing with a pen; using a phone; and pouring water from a jug).

Clinical Considerations

  • The Sollerman (unlike the Jebsen Hand Function Test) considers the quality and level of difficulty with the performance which are important components with respect to hand function.
  • The test was designed with tetraplegic patients in mind and therefore reflects the needs of this group.

ICF Domain

Activity ▶ Mobility

  • Clinician-administered standardized performance-based test.
  • A test box is placed in front of the patients who are required to start each subtask in a seated position (but they may stand to complete a task). Three subtasks are completed using the hands bilaterally while the rest are completed with each hand separately. The subtests are timed and the performance is observed.
    • Ex. Pick up key, put into Yale-lock and turn 900
  • Administration time is usually 20-25 minutes.

Number of Items

20

Equipment

  • Yale-lock with bolts mounted on a vertical wall 30 cm above bottom level.
  • Yale-key
  • 4 coins of different size
  • Two purses mounted on a wall (20 cm above bottom level) w/ zips of different size
  • 2 wooden blocks (size 7.5 and 10 cm)
  • Box (5cm edges)
  • Iron weight (3 kg)
  • 2 screws with nuts (1 with spring resistance, the other without resistance)
  • Screwdriver with handle (2.5 cm diameter)
  • 4 bolts of different size
  • 4 nuts
  • 2 jars (lid size 7.5 and 10cm diameter)
  • 4 buttons with different button-hole sizes on pieces of cloth mounted on a plate.
  • Plate
  • Knife
  • Fork
  • lump of Play-doh
  • 2 TubiGrip stockings of different sizes
  • Paper
  • Pen
  • Paper (A4 size)
  • Envelope (C6 size)
  • 2 paper clips of different size
  • telephone
  • empty water jug (1 litre) with handle

Scoring

  • Scoring takes into account the time taken, level of difficulty displayed, and the quality of performance using the correct pinch or grip position.
  • Patients are then scored on a 5-point scale from 0 (task cannot be performed at all) to 4 (task is completed without any difficulty within the time frame (20 seconds) and with the prescribed hand-grip of normal quality).
  • Scoring the test can be challenging as the assessor must be aware of multiple factors occurring simultaneously (passage of time, difficulty, correct positioning and quality of performance).
  • Definitions for interpreting the scoring scheme are not inherently obvious.
  • A total sum score (0-80) is created by adding up the scores from the different subtests.

Languages

English

Training Required

No formal training required. However, knowledge of hand function is an asset when scoring.

Availability

The Sollerman Hand Function Test worksheet can be found in the appendix of the following article:
http://www.swisswuff.ch/images/adl/adl-pdf/sollermann1995handfunctiontest.pdf [Appendix]

The Sollerman Hand Function Test can be purchased here.

Measurement Property Summary

Number of studies reporting psychometric properties: 2

Interpretability

  • MCID: not established in SCI
  • SEM: not established in SCI, but for a sample of patients with burned hands (N=12 (21 hands), mean (SD) age: 45.1 (13.3) yrs, 7M/5F, mean (SD) time since injury: 13.3 (6.9) months):

SEM=2.6

(Weng, L. Y., Hsieh, C. L., et al. 2010: “Excellent reliability of the Sollerman hand function test for patients with burned hands.” J Burn Care Res 31(6): 904-910)

  • MDC: not established in SCI, but for a sample of patients with burned hands (N=12 (21 hands), mean (SD) age: 45.1 (13.3) yrs, 7M/5F, mean (SD) time since injury: 13.3 (6.9) months):

MDC =6.7-6.9

(Weng, L. Y., Hsieh, C. L., et al. (2010): “Excellent reliability of the Sollerman hand function test for patients with burned hands.” J Burn Care Res 31(6): 904-910)

  • Higher scores reflect a better performance.
  • Participants with no hand function impairment typically score 80 with the dominant hand and 77-79 for the non-dominant hand.
  • No meaningful cut points or norms have been established for the SCI population

Reliability – High

Number of studies reporting reliability data: 2

  • High inter-rater reliability: r = 0.98

(Sollerman & Ejeskär 1995; n=59; tetraplegia, no information on chronicity, 2 testers)

  • High test-retest reliability: ICC for dominant hand = 0.963
  • High inter-rater reliability: ICC for dominant hand = 0.993

(Fattal 2004; n=52; 41 males, complete tetraplegia; mean time since injury: 11.54 years)

Validity – High

Number of studies reporting validity data: 2

High correlation with Motor Capacities Scale (MCS): Spearman’s r = 0.959

(Fattal 2004; n=52; 41 males, complete tetraplegia; mean time since injury: 11.54 years)

Responsiveness

No values have been reported at this time for the responsiveness of the Sollerman Hand Function Test for the SCI population.

Floor/Ceiling Effect

No values were reported for the presence of floor/ceiling effects in the Sollerman Hand Function Test for the SCI population.

Reviewer

Dr. Carlos L. Cano-Herrera, Elsa Sun

Date Last Updated

December 31, 2024

Dellhag B & Burckhardt CS. Predictors of Hand Function in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Arthritis Care and Research 1995;8:16-20.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/art.1790080106/abstract

Fattal C. Motor capacities of upper limbs in tetraplegics: a new scale for the assessment of the results of functional surgery on upper limbs. Spinal Cord, 2004; 42: 80-90.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14765140

Sollerman C & Ejeskär A. Sollerman Hand Function Test. A Standardised Method and its Use in Tetraplegic Patients. Scand J Plast Reconstr Hand Surg 1995;29:167-176.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7569815

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