Development and Psychometric Testing of the Bimanual Assessment Measure for People With Chronic Stroke.

IMPORTANCE

Few tools are available to assess bimanual deficits after stroke.

OBJECTIVE

To develop the Bimanual Assessment Measure (BAM), which assesses a person's hand coordination in both preferred and prestroke roles (i.e., stabilizer or manipulator).

DESIGN

Development and psychometric testing of the BAM.

SETTING

Research laboratory.

PARTICIPANTS

People with chronic stroke (n = 24), age-matched controls (n = 23), and occupational therapists (n = 40).

OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

We assessed the BAM's internal consistency, reliability, and face and known-groups validity.

RESULTS

Items were selected as meaningful tasks that represented a range of bimanual coordination requirements (e.g., symmetrical forces and timing, asymmetrical forces and timing, time-limited reactive movement). Focus groups of people with stroke and occupational therapists provided input into BAM development. The BAM was found to have excellent reliability and internal consistency and face and known-groups validity.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

The BAM is a valid, reliable measure for people with chronic stroke that identifies bimanual coordination deficits beyond unimanual impairments and the potential capacity for people to return to prestroke hand roles (i.e., as a manipulator). What This Article Adds: This article introduces the BAM as a new assessment measure of bimanual functioning with the potential capacity to restore prestroke hand roles as either a manipulator or a stabilizer among people with chronic stroke.