Establishing the Validity and Reliability of a Dexterity Assessment Tool

Establishing the Validity and Reliability of a Dexterity Assessment Tool in DCM and Healthy Populations

Every year, thousands of Canadians are diagnosed with degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM), a form of non-traumatic injury caused by spinal cord compression in the neck. While DCM causes a range of symptoms, one of the most disabling is loss of hand dexterity. Surgical decompression is standard treatment for DCM, but reduced dexterity often remains.

The investigators have developed a portable, easy-to-use dexterity assessment tool for measuring hand dexterity. Hand function is often assessed using tools incapable of measuring subtle changes in function, limiting a clinician's ability to monitor progression of or recovery from a disease over time. The hope is that if subtle changes in function are identified early, leading to an early DCM diagnosis and treatment, this may prevent patients from experiencing a greater loss of hand function.

The goals of this study are to determine the relationship between dexterity and myelopathy severity, as well as to establish the validity and reliability of the dexterity tool. This will be done by assessing dexterity using the dexterity tool in DCM patients (to determine the relationship between disease severity and dexterity, and measure validity) and healthy participants (to establish reliability).

Inclusion criteria for patient participants

• Has been diagnosed with DCM
• Are between the ages of 35 and 75 years
• Has no other neurological disorder Inclusion criteria for healthy participants
• Are between the ages of 35 and 75 years
• Has no neurological disorder

Exclusion criteria for all participants:

• Does not fluently speak and read English