Interrater reliability of pinch and grip strength measurements in patients with cumulative trauma disorders.

The purposes of this study were to examine the interrater reliabilities of grip, lateral pinch, and tripod pinch measurements in patients with cumulative trauma disorders. Thirty-eight patients with unilateral (n = 28) or bilateral (n = 10) cumulative trauma disorders were tested independently by two hand therapists, during a one-hour period. The tests were completed in a normal hand clinic environment using the standard protocol recommended by the American Society of Hand Therapists. Interrater reliability coefficients for the scores obtained using either a single repetition or the mean of three repetitions were very high (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] > 0.87) for all strength measurements. As a result, strength determination in this patient group, when performed by different hand therapists, may be considered reliable.