Introduction / Rationale: The Nine Hole Peg Test (NHPT) is one of the most commonly used standardized tests for assessing dexterity. However, its inter-rater reliability has only been investigated in a few studies. In practice, specific situations such as dropping a peg on a table or on the floor often occur during the NHPT. The revised NHPT manual (r-NHPT) contains new rules that standardise the way these situations are handled and evaluated.
Objectives: To determine the inter-rater reliability of the r-NHPT in healthy Czech adults and to analyse the frequency of specific situations.
Methods / Approach: Two occupational therapists independently analysed video recordings of healthy Czech adults (N=30) who volunteered for r-NHPT testing. The results of three attempts of Dominant Hand (DH) and Non-dominant Hand (NH) were evaluated. Inter-rater reliability was determined using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the situations.
Results / Practice Implications: Excellent inter-rater reliability of the r-NHPT was found (ICCs for all three attempts of both subtests ranged between 0.993 and 0.999). At least one specific situation was recorded for each of the 30 subjects. The occurrence of a specific situation was recorded in the raters' record sheets for 56% of the 480 attempts. Annulled attempts due to the specific situations (N=104) were observed in subtest DH (N=66) rather than in NH (N=38).
Conclusion / Contribution to the occupational therapy profession: The r-NHPT can be used in clinical practice as a reliable tool for a more objective assessment of dexterity. The new rules unifying the way the NHPT is administered even when specific test situations occur proved beneficial in practice.