Abstract
Purpose :
Most tests for eye hand coordination (EHC) either lack portability, lack established population norms, or have subjective elements. Population norms have previously been established for the full 20-plate version of the digital Lee-Ryan EHC Test (L-R EHC Test). However, depending on age, the time taken ranged from 6.4 to 15.8 mins and is an issue for clinical use. This study investigated the equivalence of two shortened versions of the test.
Methods :
As no order effect was found previously, two subsets (A/B), purportedly equivalent regarding total number of errors and time taken, were extracted from the L-R EHC Test. Each set had 2 easy, 2 medium, 2 difficult plates randomised for this study but administered in the same order to each subject. Sixty-five subjects without known psychological, motor or visual impairment aged 12 to 65 years (mean 31.5±16.9) sat wearing habitual correction with an iPad (Apple Inc.) flat on a table at 33-40cm. After a common single practice trace using a stylus in the preferred hand, sets ‘A’ (elephant, square, whale, snail, dragonfly) and ‘B’ (octopus, triangle, unicorn, rabbit, monster, cat) were presented in random order. Subjects were grouped into 10-year age groups and the A/B subset differences for total time taken and number of errors made analysed using the Mann-Whitney test (GraphPad Prism). The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to analyse errors and time differences against shape difficulty.
Results :
No difference in the total number of errors made was found between subset A (12.3±8.8) and subset B (11.7±8.1) of the L-R EHC Test, nor for total time taken (103.4±29.1, 105.5±28.8 secs). On each subtest, a positive correlation was found between age and number of errors (r=0.634, p<0.0001), and time taken (r=0.592, p<0.0001). Increasing shape difficulty increased the number of errors (p<0.0001) but there was no age effect. With increasing age, the time taken increased disproportionately as shape difficulty increased, particularly for those over the age of 50. Overall, the outcomes mirrored those found using the full 20-plate version of the L-R EHC Test.
Conclusions :
Two comparable 6-plate subtests from the original 20-plate L-R EHC Test have been created that have outputs displaying age profiles similar to the original full version of the test. We suggest that these subtests can be used in place of the full test to facilitate speedy objective pre- and post-intervention testing of EHC in a clinical setting.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.