Abstract
[Purpose] In this study, we investigated the reliability of the "finger touching test" for examining joint position sense of the upper limb. [Subjects] Thirty patients with hemiparesis following stroke participated in this study. [Methods] The test was taken with the subjects who sat with their eyes closed, and the affected limb was moved by the examiner. The patient was instructed to touch the tip of the affected index finger with that of the unaffected hand. We measured the distance between the tip of the unaffected index finger and that of the affected hand. The test was performed by two examiners (A, B). We investigated the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability with ICC (intraclass correlation coefficient). [Results] High intra-rater and inter-rater reliabilitis (ICC=0.91; ICC=0.90) were found. [Conclusion] This result suggests that the "finger touching test" is a reliable test for deep sense.
