Objective:
To examine the accuracy and reliability of upper limb target pointing among normal subjects.
Design:
Prospective observational.
Setting:
Community sports-medicine practice.
Participants:
28 male and female normal right-handed volunteers age 22–35 years.
Intervention:
8-point target-pointing task completed with both upper limbs.
Main Outcome Measures:
Accuracy of point reproduction (cm error) and reliability over time (ICC2,1).
Results:
Target-pointing errors were 4.8–9.9 cm. Subject error and reach height explained 88% of performance variability. Error was greater when pointing to the lower half of the target (P < .05) and to ipsilateral points (P < .05). Gender, test day, reach length, and arm dominance did not affect accuracy. Test–retest reliability ranged from .30 to .71.
Conclusion:
Target-pointing tasks might be useful to assess upper limb neuromuscular control. Points with lower errors and greater reliabilities might be useful to differentiate normal vs abnormal performances, whereas a battery of reliable points over a spectrum of errors might be useful to document changes over time.
