How to assess hand strength
Previous TopicAssess function at the hand
- Ask the person to squeeze your two fingers with their hand (grip strength)
- Ask the person to pick a small object out of your hand
If the person has signs of reduced muscle strength while performing this movement, assess all individual shoulder movements on both sides using the MRC muscle power test.
Assess a person’s grip strength
Read on to learn how to assess strength of individual movements at the hand.
How to assess finger flexion strength
Positioning of person:
- For grade 0-5: person seated with forearm supported on table, thumb facing upwards
Clinician positioning and handling:
- For grade 0-5: clinician seated across from person with access to test side. Support wrist and grip fingers in a ‘monkey grip’ position
Instructions for person:
- ‘Please curl your fingers into your palm’
Watch these videos to learn how to assess finger flexion strength:
Assess finger flexion strength grade 0-2
How to assess finger abduction strength
-
For grade 0-5: person seated with forearm supported on table, palm facing downwards
-
For grade 0-5: clinician seated across from person with access to test side. Support wrist and provide resistance to outside of two fingers at once
-
‘Please separate your fingers away from each other’
Watch these videos to learn how to assess finger abduction strength:
Assess finger abduction strength grade 0-2
Assess finger abduction strength grade 3-5
Activity
Practice performing each of the muscle strength assessments with a colleague for:
- Wrist flexion
- Wrist extension
- Finger flexion
- Finger abduction
Time: 10 mins
Post any questions on the discussion forum.
Congratulations, you have now learnt how to assess muscle strength for the hand.
Learning how to properly assess muscle strength for each movement will take time so we encourage you to practice assessing each movement in your own time as well as in this module.
