Table 4

Level of reporting of instrument, method of assessment and reference to literature for standardised clinical measures (numbers in bold indicate number of studies, square bracketed numbers refer to study number in reference list),

Outcome categories and instruments

Instrument named/described
Method of administration described
Cited reference on psychometric properties/protocol
Assessed but no details given
Total number of studies

Grip strength
Dynamometer (Jamar, Baseline, NK or B&L) vigorimeter
15 [16–20,24,26–28,31,30–35,37–38]
2 [19, 38]
2 [19,33]
4 [15,21,25,36]
19
Pinch strength

11 [16–20,26–28,31,33,38]
2 [19, 38]
1 [33]
3 [15, 25,36]
14
Manual muscle testing of thenar muscles (MRC, AOA scale)

n/a
6 [15–17, 25, 28, 31]
3 [15, 23, 28]
2 [29, 32]
10
Range of motion
goniometry
1 [38]
2 [21, 31]
1 [31]
0
3
Sensibility
Touch threshold (SWMT or PSSD)
9 [15–17, 19, 25,26, 28, 30, 33]
1 [19]
4 [15,17,19,33]
0
9

2 – point discrimination
4 [15, 17, 19, 31]
1 [19]
4 [15, 17, 19, 31]
7 [14, 22, 23, 25, 28, 30, 36]
11

vibration
3 [15,19]
1 [19]
2 [13, 15]
0
3
Hand dexterity (Jebsen-Taylor test, Purdue and 9-hole peg test)

3 [28,31,38]
0
2 [28, 38]
0
3
Pain Questionnaires (McGill)

1 [33]
n/a
1 [33]
0
1
Symptom Severity Scale (BCTQ

8 [27, 28,30, 33, 34, 38–40]
n/a
8 [27, 28,30, 33, 34, 38–40]
0
8
Functional Status Scale (BCTQ)

7 [27, 28,30, 34, 38–40]
n/a
7 [27, 28,30, 34, 38–40]
0


MRC – Medical Research Council, AOA – American Orthopedic Association, SWMT – Semmes-Weinstein Monofilament Test, PSSD – pressure-specifying device; BCTQ – Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire; n/a – not applicable

Jerosch-Herold et al. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2006 7:96   doi:10.1186/1471-2474-7-96