Adult Norms for the Nine Hole Peg Test of Finger Dexterity

TLDR

The study aimed to standardize the Nine Hole Peg Test procedures, assess its reliability and validity, and develop new clinical norms. Researchers tested 26 occupational therapy students for interrater and test‑retest reliability, compared the test to the Purdue Pegboard, and collected normative data from 628 adults aged 20–94 stratified by sex and age. The test showed very high interrater reliability (r ≈ 0.97–0.99), moderate test‑retest reliability (r ≈ 0.69–0.43) with a practice effect, correlated with the Purdue Pegboard (r ≈ −0.61), and normative data revealed age‑related decline, slight female advantage, and minimal hand‑dominance differences.

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to establish standardized procedures for the Nine Hole Peg Test of finger dexterity, to evaluate its reliability and validity, and to establish new clinical norms based on these standardized procedures. For the reliability and validity study, 26 female occupational therapy students were tested Very high interrater reliability (right r = .97, left r = .99) was found Test-retest reliability was reported to be moderate to high (right r = .69, left r = .43) and a significant practice effect was found between the test and retest occasions. Possible variables that may have affected these results are discussed To evaluate concurrent validity, the Nine Hole Peg Test was compared to the Purdue Pegboard. The observed correlations (right r = −.61, left r = −.53) indicated that the tests are similar but not equivalent tests of finger dexterity. For the normative data study, 628 normal subjects from 20 to 94 years were tested Data were stratified by sex and by 12 age groups to allow the therapist to easily compare patients' scores to a normative population Data showed that females scored slightly better than males, finger dexterity decreased with age, and right-hand and left-hand dominant subjects demonstrated minimal differences in performance.