Wrist muscle tone and self-care skill in persons with hemiparesis.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the interaction between muscle tone at the wrist and self-care function in persons with hemiparesis. Dynamic and static muscle tone measurements were taken at the wrist. Self-care ability was measured with a chart review and the Klein-Bell Scale. The results of the study did not support the assumption that there is a significant relationship between muscle tone and activities of daily living for persons with hemiparesis. Perhaps other variables such as the general state of health, cognition, and perception should also be considered during the treatment of self-care.

Jebsen Hand Function Test: performance of the uninvolved hand in hemiplegia and of right-handed, right and left hemiplegic persons.

The Jebsen Hand Function Test was administered to 50 hemiplegic patients within three weeks of their admission to a rehabilitation center. Participants in the study demonstrated significantly slower performance on all items of the test for both the nonparetic and paretic hands when comparisons of scores were made with previously published norms. A further analysis of test results was made among all right-handed subjects. The left hemiplegic group performed all subtest items more slowly than right hemiplegic subjects with the weak hand. Performance with the nonparetic hand was significantly different between left and right hemiplegic subjects only on the writing subtest. These differences cannot be exclusively explained by either hand dominance or hemispheric specialization.