Outcome measures for hand function naturally reveal three latent domains in older adults: Strength, coordinated upper extremity function, and sensorimotor processing

Model System:

Reference Type:

Accession No.:

Journal:

Year, Volume, Issue, Page(s):

Publication Website:

Abstract:

Study examined whether and how the associations among six hand-specific outcome measures reveal latent functional domains in elderly individuals. Sixty-six healthy older adult participants and 33 older adults diagnosed with osteoarthritis (OA) of the carpometacarpal (CMC) joint completed six functional assessments: hand strength (grip, key, and precision pinch), Box and Block, Nine Hole Pegboard, and Strength-Dexterity tests. The first three principal components suffice to explain 86 percent of variance among the six outcome measures in healthy older adults, and 84 percent of variance in older adults with CMC OA. The composition of these dominant associations revealed three distinct latent functional domains: strength, coordinated upper-extremity function, and sensorimotor processing. Furthermore, in participants with thumb CMC OA, a blurring of the associations between the latent functional domains of strength and coordinated upper-extremity function was found. This motivates future work to understand how the physiological effects of thumb CMC OA lead upper-extremity coordination to become strongly associated with strength, while dynamic sensorimotor ability remains an independent functional domain. Thus, when assessing the level of hand function in older adults, it is particularly important to acknowledge its multidimensional nature-and explicitly consider how each outcome measure maps to these three latent and fundamental domains of function. Moreover, this ability to distinguish among latent functional domains may facilitate the design of treatment modalities to target the rehabilitation of each of them.

Author(s):

Participating Centers: