Assessing tactile acuity in rheumatology and musculoskeletal medicine—how reliable are two-point discrimination tests at the neck, hand, back and foot?

Abstract

Individual clinicians are able to reliably assess TPD threshold at the neck, back, hand and foot using mechanical callipers. Measures obtained by different clinicians were only reliable for the neck and foot. Large variability was observed in all assessments, which suggests clinicians should be cautious when interpreting changes in tactile acuity in individual patients.