A normative study of the Nine Hole Peg Test in Bangladesh

BACKGROUND: The Nine Hole Peg Test (NHPT) is a simple, quick assessment often used by occupational therapists to assess finger dexterity. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to standardize the NHPT in Bangladesh so Bangladeshi therapists can administer and interpret this test with relevant cultural norms. METHOD: This study includes an inter-rater reliability (IRR) study and a normative study with Bangladeshi participants. RESULTS: In the IRR study, four raters were placed into 6 teams of two to establish reliability between individuals in each team. Intra-Class Correlation (ICC) results showed a high inter-rater reliability with ICC average ratings of 0.882-0.998 between individual raters of each team. Culturally relevant norms were developed for the NHPT using a sample of 180 participants (females, n=90 and males, n=90) ranging in age from 18 to 60 years. The data from the 1st trials were analyzed between age categories of both 5 and 10-year increments. Normative data was found to be clinically significant across collapsed age groups: 18-39, 40-49, and 50-60 years of age for each gender. CONCLUSION: These age categories were used to standardize the NHPT in Bangladesh, making it a culturally relevant finger dexterity test for the Bangladeshi population.