The development and preliminary validation of the Taiwanese Manual Ability Measure for Burns.

OBJECTIVE

To develop and validate the Taiwanese Manual Ability Measure for Burns (T-MAM for Burns), a task-oriented functional evaluation tool to assess self-reported manual ability in burn patients.

DESIGN

A longitudinal study.

PARTICIPANTS

A sample of 45 burn patients from burn rehabilitation centers with varying degrees of hand involvement.

METHODS

The preliminary testing version was formed by adding burn specific items to the Taiwanese version of the Manual Ability Measure. A field test was then conducted for item reduction and psychometric properties testing.

RESULTS

Out of 55 initial items, 20 were selected into the final version of the T-MAM for Burns. Psychometric analyses indicated that it was reliable (test-retest ICC=.99), with adequate concurrent validity with various other hand function tests (r=-.79 with the short form Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand, or, the QuickDASH) and discriminative validity (significant difference (t=2.99, P=.005) between groups with unilateral vs. bilateral hand burns), and responsive (ES=.24 and .44 at one- and 3-month evaluations).

CONCLUSION

This study shows that the T-MAM for Burns has great potential to be a functional outcome measure for burn rehabilitation. Additional research with a larger sample should be conducted to further confirm its validity and reliability.