Barlow, S.J., Scholtz, J. & Medeiros (2020). Wrist weight-bearing tolerance in healthy adults. Journal of Hand Therapy, xxx currently in press.
The Skinny
Wrist pain and instability are common occurrences and can occur with acute or chronic injuries. This leads to significant dysfunction, including the inability to tolerate axial loading through the upper extremity. There is no reported clinical test for hand therapists to measure axial loading from decreased wrist stability. The purpose of this study was to determine normative values for non weight bearing upper extremity.
In the Weeds
465 subjects were enrolled in the study from around the world. Healthy adults ranging in age from 18 to 64 were enrolled in the study. Exclusion criteria included current wrist pain or a history of wrist pain, previous wrist fracture, rheumatoid arthritis, breastfeeding, and/or pregnancy.
For testing, the subjects were in a standing position with the elbow and wrist in extension. They were asked to press down on an analog scale making sure their middle finger pointed toward the 12 o’clock position. This was done a total of three times on both of the upper extremities.
Bringing it Home
This study defines wrist weight-bearing tolerance norms for healthy adults, including males and females in the age range of 18-64. Knowing the weight-bearing norms could help identify wrist pathology and be another objective measure to support various hand therapy interventions (weight well hand therapy).
This study was well done, and there was a large sample size from various locations around the world. One potential conflict was cited in the article
“journal policy and ethical obligation require reporting that one of the authors of this paper (MW) is the patent owner of a company WristWidget. The business may be positively affected by the results reported in this manuscript.” (Barlow & et al, 2020).
Overall I really enjoyed reading this article, and I can say that it will impact my clinical practice. Nice job!
If you are going to purchase a scale, I would recommend making sure it has a large area to place the hand without covering the dial or numbers (mine doesn’t have enough room to keep my hand on the black area without cover the numbers). Also, make sure it is analog, not digital!
3 Comments
Leave a Comment
More To Read
What is a Slap Tear? Superior Labrum Anterior to Posterior Tear
What is a SLAP injury?A Superior Labral, Anterior and Posterior (SLAP) lesion is an injury effecting the superiorportion of the glenoid labrum where the long head of the biceps tendon is anchored (Levasseur etal., 2021). The tearing commonly occurs posteriorly and extends anteriorly at the mid-glenoidnotch which can be examined through shoulder arthroscopy (Kim et…
Cervical Spinal Cord Injuries Impact on Hand Function
By: Hannah Schleining Cervical Spinal Cord Injuries Impact on Hand Function The cervical region controls many of the muscles responsible for upper extremity movement,therefore, injuries at this level can dramatically influence strength, coordination, andindependence in everyday function. Understanding how cervical spinal cord injuries affect upperextremity function is essential for clinicians, caregivers, and individuals navigating recovery.…
Pediatric & Adolescent Shoulder Instability
Lin, K.M, James, E.W., Spitze, E. & Fabricant, P.D. (2018). Pediatric and adolescent anterior shoulder instability: Clinical management of first-time dislocators. Current opinion in pediatrics, 30, 49-56. doi: 10.1097/MOP.0000000000000566. The Skinny: Shoulder instability for pediatric and adolescent patients is fairly common and is often complicated by a high re-dislocation rate. Shoulder instability typically occurs after…
5+ Common Mallet Finger Splints
Finger orthoses can be tough, and the mallet orthosis is no exception in hand therapy. The protocol for 15 degrees of DIP extension with mallet fingers is tricky to manage while making a common mallet finger splint. Small splints on little fingers are also tricky to get sized just right and with strapping in the…
Sign-up to Get Updates Straight to Your Inbox!
Sign up with us and we will send you regular blog posts on everything hand therapy, notices every time we upload new videos and tutorials, along with handout, protocols, and other useful information.
What are the norms?
What is the result?
Am I wrong …………I could not find the weight bearing norms? You did a nicht Job 🙂 thank you for the Article…