A pilot study published July 2 in Sage Journals attempted to modify a previous refined clothespin relocation test, a test used to evaluate the performance of a prosthesis user by analyzing the compensatory motions and time to complete a grasping and placement exercise, and assess whether it can distinguish between able-bodied users and those who use a prosthesis. Prosthesis users demonstrated larger compensations and longer completion times, as reflected in the refined clothespin relocation test final score, the study found.
Forty-two able-bodied subjects and three prosthesis users completed the adapted refined clothespin relocation test protocol. Average refined clothespin relocation test scores describing the degree of compensatory movements and the time to complete the protocol were compared using a Mann-Whitney U-test.
A significant difference was found in the refined clothespin relocation test score between the able-bodied (Md = 65.32) and those who use a prosthesis (Md = 23.07) with a medium effect size (r = 0.43), the study found.
The refined clothespin relocation test may be a useful clinical tool to assess user performance on a functional task.
The preliminary study also demonstrated that the adapted protocol can distinguish between the two groups based on the test score. According to the study’s authors, a future multicenter study is also required using multiple raters and comparing it with the existing outcome measures to validate the refined clothespin relocation test and determine inter-rater reliability.
