Abstract
Objective: Kinematic assessment of the drinking task offers objective metrics of upper limb recovery following neurological injury. The rehabilitation research community’s increased interest has led to consensus standardization efforts. These efforts inherently depend on fidelity of the activity protocol underlying drinking task kinematics. This study’s objective is to investigate whether differences in the drinking task protocol, as observed in prior lite-rature, impact common kinematic metrics. Design: Incomplete block design with repeated-measures. Subjects/Patients: Six neurotypical participants. Methods: Seating position, cup start position, and target definition for cup return were varied. Mixed effects linear models analysed the impact of protocol variants on validated kinematic metrics used in stroke rehabilitation research. Results: All considered factors have a significant impact on at least 1 kinematic metric. Seating position impacts movement time (p = 0.035) and trunk displacement (p = 0.017), cup starting position impacts trunk displacement (p = 0.001), and target definition impacts movement time (p = 0.036). Of note, none of the factors significantly altered the number of movement units. Conclusion: Further refinement and adherence to a standardized protocol for the drinking task activity may reduce between-study effects and promote the successful uptake of upper limb kinematic assessment in the rehabilitation research community.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | jrm43843 |
| Journal | Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine |
| Volume | 57 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© Author(s).
Funding
This research was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through grant number UL1TR001998. Additional support was provided by the University of Kentucky College of Medicine Deans Office and by the University of Kentucky Center for Advanced Translational Stroke Science Alliance. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through grant number UL1TR001998. Additional support was provided by the University of Kentucky College of Medicine Deans Office and by the University of Kentucky Center for Advanced Translational Stroke Science Alliance. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. Ethical clearance: The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008. Availability of data and materials: The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Conflict of interest declaration: JH and AS report that financial support was provided by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the University of Kentucky. SS has no conflicts of interest to declare.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) | |
| University of Kentucky Center for Advanced Translational Stroke Science Alliance | |
| University of Kentucky | |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) | UL1TR001998 |
Keywords
- activities of daily living
- biomechanics
- motor skills
- rehabilitation
- stroke
- upper extremity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
- Rehabilitation