Table 2.

Summary of tests of upper limb motor function

Author (year)	Hand/upper limb assessed	Task	Equipment	Protocol	Movement variables
Ott (1995) [24]	Both hands	FT (index-target tapping)	Computer keyboard	Tapping any key of their choice at a fast pace for 8 s once with their index finger and then alternately tapped the index-middle finger	Number of taps (average of the five trials)
Welch (1997) [25]	Both hands	FT (index-target tapping)	Not specified	Finger tapping test as part of a neuropsychological battery (Halstead-Reitan manual) after 3 weeks of alcohol abstinence	Tapping speed Mean tapping score
Camicioli (1998) [26]	Both hands	FT (index-thumb tapping)	Not mentioned	Tapping index finger to thumb for 10 s (right and left hand)	Total number of taps for each hand
Goldman (1998) [27]	Both hands, dominant hand first	FT (index-target tapping)	An electronic device which is not specified	Tapping index finger for 10 s in 3 positions for each hand: wrist and elbow restrained, elbow restrained, and no restraint	Number of taps
Willis (1998) [28]	Both hands	1. FT (index-thumb tapping) 2. Forearm, supination/ pronation	Not specified	1. Tapping index fingers to thumbs at a fast pace for 10 s 2. Fast-paced supination/pronation of the dominant hand for 10 s	Number of correct cycles completed
Goldman (1999) [29]	Both hands, dominant hand first	FT (index-target tapping)	An electronic device which is not specified	Tapping index finger for 10 s in 3 positions for each hand: wrist and elbow restrained, elbow restrained, and no restraint	Number of taps
Schroter (2003) [30]	Dominant and non-dominant hand	Writing	Digitising tablet and a pressure-sensitive inking stylus	Drawing concentric circles on a digitising tablet as fast as possible for 30 s, then repeating the task while performing an additional distraction task with the nondominant hand for 10 s	Peak velocity SD of velocity Number of changes in direction
Amieva (2004) [31]	Not specified	FT (index-target tapping)	Computer keyboard	No details provided	Speed
Muhlack (2006) [32]	Both hands separately (dominant hand first)	PPT	25-hole computer-based contact pegboard	Transferring pegs from a rack into one of 25 holes in the board individually and as quickly as possible	Time taken to complete the task for each hand Total time
Bramell-Risberg (2010) [42	Both forearms	Forearm, supination/pronation	An optical shaft encoder (Hewlett Packard HEDS5701-A00) connected to a microcontroller (Microchip PIC 16C84) sending the data to the computer	Supinating and pronating each forearm separately for 10 s while gripping the handle of the shaft and bend their elbow approximately 90°	Number of supination/ pronation Speed
Buracchio (2010) [6]	Both hands (index fingers)	FT (index-target tapping)	A counting machine with a lever	Tapping a lever with an attached counter using the index finger of each hand for 10 s	Mean speed value of three trials
Ameli (2011) [34]	Dominant hand	Research/Grasp/Lift	A cylindrical and cordless object, mounted on top of an opaque plastic box which was either empty (400 g total) or contained an added 200 g mass (600 g total)	Lifting the object about 5 cm above the supporting table and holding for 4 s before putting it down under two conditions: with and without visual cues on weight of the object	Linear acceleration in three dimensions Peak acceleration
Rousseaux (2012) [35]	Both hands	Lille gestural apraxia test	Photos and various tools and objects as required	Imitating meaningless and symbolic gestures, pantomiming complex actions	Individual scores of each subtest Total score
Rabinowitz (2014) [36]	Dominant hand	FT (index-target tapping)	A touchpad mounted on a pressure transducer (FSR, InterLink Electronics, Camarillo, CA, USA)	Tapping index finger on a pressure pad for 15 s at a self-selected pace	Touch time Time off touch pad Touch cycle Touch SD Coefficient of variation
Henley (2014) [37]	Dominant hand	FT (index-target tapping)	Superlab on a computer	Tapping index finger on a computer key once in pace with the beat of a series of tones and once tapping in pace with a series of tones after the sounds ceased	Inter-response interval Inter-response interval variance Time variance Motor variance Response interval drift Response interval absolute drift
Johnen (2015) [38]	Both hands	The Cologne Apraxia Screening (CAS) Ideomotor Apraxia Test (IAT) The Monster Apraxia Items (MI)	Pictures of gestures	Pantomiming object use and commonly used gestures, and imitating hand and finger postures and face postures	Total score for each test Apraxia subdomain scores (% correct gestures)
Ward (2015) [39]	Dominant hand	Eight functional tasks from the Cambridge Cognitive Examination	Not specified	Drawings of pentagon, spiral, house, clock, and inserting a sheet of paper into an envelope, waving goodbye, cutting a sheet of paper with a pair of scissors, and brushing teeth	Sub-items scores Total score
Nagahama (2015) [40]	Both hands	Gesture imitation	NA	Imitating gestures after watching demonstration by examiner. Maximum 10 s was allowed to imitate each gesture	Accuracy scores Time taken to imitate each gesture Average scores of both hands
Lin (2016) [41]	Dominant hand	Trail making	A custom-made test device with a wooden board and 16 electronic plates with lights connected to a computer. A pencil-like stick was connected to the board by a wire	Striking lit target sensors with the pencil-like stick as fast as possible in three predetermined sequences: fixed pattern from left to right, random pattern and a fixed pattern while counting backward	Reaction time
Toosizadeh (2016) [42]	Dominant arm	Elbow flexion/extension	Wearable sensors: A tri-axial gyroscope and accelerometer sensor (BioSensics LLC, Boston, MA, USA)	Flexing and extending elbow at fast pace for 20 s. Then performed this test while counting numbers backward by one	Speed Flexibility Power Rise time Moment Speed reduction Speed variability Flexion number
Fritz (2016) [43]	Both (dominant then non-dominant hand)	PPT	9-hole Purdue Pegboard	Placing pegs into holes in a board and then removing them	Time
Souza (2016) [44]	Both hands	ILFT	NA	Imitating bimanual non-symbolic gestures after demonstration by examiner	Individual scores Total score
Dahdal (2016) [45]	Right hand	Functional tasks of upper limb such as holding the stylus inside a 5.8-mm-wide well for 20 s without touching the rim	An electric stylus	Holding the stylus and performing various tasks to test steadiness, precision, tapping, dexterity and aiming A total of 5 tasks were performed, each taking 20 s	Number of errors Number of taps Time to complete tasks
Darweesh (2017) [19]	Both hands (each hand separately and both hands together)	PPT	25-hole Purdue Pegboard	Placing as many cylindrical metal pegs as possible into one of 25 holes in a pegboard as possible in 30 s	Average score of three trials
Kay (2017) [46]	Right hand	FT (index-target tapping)	A box with a push button E-Prime software (Psychology Software Tools, Pittsburgh, PA)	Participants tapped a button with their right index finger for 12 s in synchrony with a visual flashing yellow and black checkerboard	Inter-tap intervals
Kueper (2017) [3]	NA	Finger tapping	NA	Not specified	Not specified
Bartoli (2017) [47]	Both hands (starting with the dominant hand)	Target tracking	A haptic interface (Omni®, Sensable) controlled by a custom-made software	Participants followed the target movement when it moved continuously on a computer screen, abruptly and when remained stationary. There were 22 trials, each lasting 20 s	Reaction times Mean absolute error with and without feedback
Sanin (2017) [48]	Both hands	Gesture imitation	NA	Imitating gestures/fingers configurations and hand movements	Individual scores of each test Total score
Garre-Olmo (2017) [49]	Dominant hand	Writing a sentence, drawing a clock face, and copying a house, pentagons, and a spiral	A commercial Intuos WACOM series 4 size L digitising tablet and a pressure sensitive Intuos ink pen	Writing sentences and drawing circles with a wireless electronic stylus on a paper fastened to the digitising tablet	Pressure Time Speed Acceleration
Suzumura (2018) [50]	Both hands	FT (index-target tapping)	JustTouch screen	Tapping marks on the screen using the index finger of right, left and then both hands for 15 s at a fast pace and in pace with sound signals	Mean lag time Lag-time SD Mean inter-tap time Intertap-time SD Contact time Contact time SD Inter-hand phase difference Inter-hand phase SD
Roalf (2018) [51]	Both hands	FT (index-target tapping)	Light Beam Finger and Foot Tapper Test (NeuroCognitive Engineering, 1995)	Tapping index finger through a light beam device for 10 s with dominant, non-dominant and then both hands. PD participants performed test while on medication	Total tap count Intra-individual variability Inter-tap interval
Gupta (2018) [52]	Both hands	FT (index-target tapping)	A custom-made software running on a laptop computer	Tapping index finger on a computer key for 10 s	Frequency
Rycroft (2018) [53]	Both forearms	Forearm, supination/pronation	NA	Supinating and pronating forearm of each arm separately for 20 s at a self-selected (two trials) and at a fast pace (two trials)	Number of accurate movements
Gulde (2018) [54]	Dominant hand	Gesture imitation	Pictures of objects	Imitating meaningless finger and hand gestures and performing pantomimes of object use	Correct imitations and pantomimes
Jeppesen Kragh (2018) [55]	Both hands (right and left hand individually)	1. FT (index-target tapping) 2. Forearm supination/ pronation 3. Reach/grasp/Lift	Force transducer (Mini-40, ATI Industrial Automation, Apex, NC, USA)	1. Tapping the force transducer for 10 s with the index finger at a fast pace, 2. Tapping the force transducer with the palm and back of their hands at a fast pace, 3. Grasping and lifting the force transducer and held it stable for 20 s at a height of 10 cm	1 & 2 Frequency Mean inter-onset interval Inter-onset interval SD 3 Mean orientation index Mean position index
Zhang (2018) [56]	Both hands	FT (index-target tapping)	An infrared photoelectric sensor connected to a computer	Placing index finger within the frame and tapping at a fast pace for 8 s	Frequency
Carment (2018) [14]	Dominant hand	FT (index-target tapping)	Finger Force Manipulandum; a device with force sensitive pistons	Matching the applied index finger force to the target force using the visual feedback and then using auditory cues	Frequency Variability
Fadda (2019) [57]	Both arms	Hand to Mouth movement	Wearable sensors: Markers were placed on upper limb bony landmarks. An 8-cameras motion-capture system (SMART-D, BTS Bioengineering, Italy)	Reaching, touching mouth and returning to initial position. Arms were tested separately	Time events (total and each phase) Speed, Smoothness Accuracy variables
Toosizadeh (2019) [58]	Dominant arm	Elbow flexion/extension	Wearable sensor: A tri-axial gyroscope and accelerometer sensor (BioSensics LLC, Boston, MA, USA)	Flexing/extending the elbow under two conditions: fast-paced for 20 s, and self-pace for 60 s. Self-selected pace was performed as a single-task and under two dual-tasks	Speed Rise time Flexion number Range of motion Variability
Mollica (2019) [59]	Both hands	FT (index-target tapping)	Computer keyboard (E-Prime 2.0 (Psychology Software Tools Inc., Pittsburgh, PA)	Tapping computer's spacebar with their index finger as fast as they could for 10 s while looking at a fixation point on the monitor. Hands were tested separately	Speed Intrasubject variability
Tomita (2020) [60]	Both hands	FT (index-target tapping)	Wearable sensors: Magnetic sensors were placed on the thumb and index finger of both hands. Magnetic sensors (UB-2; Hitachi Maxell, Tokyo, Japan)	Tapping index fingers to thumbs at a fast pace for 15 s once in-phase and once alternately Instruction: open fingers 5 cm while tapping	Amplitude (movement distance between the thumb and index finger) Total tap count Rhythm
Bologna (2020) [61]	Right hand	FT (index-thumb tapping)	Wearable sensors: Reflective markers attached to the tips of the index finger and thumb and detected via an optoelectronic system (SMART motion system, BTS Engineering, Italy)	Tapping index finger to thumb at a self-selected pace for 15 s	Amplitude Velocity Movement slope Rhythm
Liou (2020) [62]	Both hands	Domain 8 of FUNDES-Adult assessment	FUNDES-Adult assessment records	Assessment included pen-holding, buttoning, and knotting	Level of assistance required to complete each task
San Martin-Valenzuela (2020) [63]	Both hands	FT (index-target tapping)	Not specified	Tapping a key at a fast pace using the index finger of each hand separately and then both hands simultaneously for 10 s	Number of finger-taps
Hesseberg (2020) [18]	Dominant hand	FT (index to target tapping)	A counting machine	Tapping index finger of the dominant hand at a fast pace for 10 s on a counting machine	Mean tap number of the five trials
Ntracha (2020) [64]	Not specified	Typing on a virtual keyboard	Custom-made virtual keyboard on an app on Smartphones	Typing down up to 4 short texts, around a paragraph in length about familiar topics. No time limit. Phones’ autocorrection feature were disabled	Number of errors Keystroke timing
Ehsani (2020) [65]	Dominant arm	Elbow flexion/extension	Wearable motion sensors (tri-axial gyroscope sensors (BioSensics LLC, Cambridge, MA)	Flexing/extending elbow at a self-selected pace for 60 s under one single-task and two dual-task conditions	Entropy Angular velocity
Zhang (2021) [66]	Dominant hand	Drag and Drop Test	A Huawei M5 touch screen tablet	Dragging blocks one by one from a start area and dropping them to a target area within 60 s without hitting a partition in between the start and target areas or dropping the blocks in the start area	Number of successful and failed dragged blocks Time taken to move a block Average speed Speed SD
Paixao (2021) [67]	Both hands	Grocery Shelving Task (putting grocery cans on a shelf)	Adjustable shelf and twenty 420-g grocery cans divided into two grocery bags	Standing up from a chair, walking 1 m toward the shelf, and placing all the cans in the shopping bags on the shelf as quickly as possible, one can in each hand	Time
Mancioppi (2021) [68]	Dominant hand	FT (index-target tapping)	Wearable sensors, based on microelectromechanical sensors composed by the SensHand	Tapping index finger at a self-selected pace for 15 s, under single- and dual-task conditions	Number of taps Dual-task cost Opening velocity Velocity SD
Nagahama (2021) [69]	Both hands	Gesture imitation	Not specified	Imitating gestures after watching examiner’s hand with each hand separately and then simultaneously	Time taken to imitate Accuracy of imitation
Uwa-Agbonikhena (2021) [70]	Both hands	Various tasks such as hook grasp, cylinder grasp, elbow flexion/extension, forearm supination and pronation, etc	The Fugl-Meyer assessment	As per Fugl-Meyer upper extremity assessment of sensorimotor function protocol	Subtest scores Total motor function score
Beeri (2021) [71]	Both hands	1. PPT 2. FT (index-target tapping)	1. 25-hole Purdue Pegboard, 2. an electronic tapper (Western Psychological Services, Los Angeles, CA)	1. Inserting as many pegs as possible in 30 s 2. Tapping the tapper with their index finger at a fast pace for 10 s	1. Average score of two trials for each hand 2. Average score of two trials for each hand (number of taps)
Zhao (2021) [72]	Both hands)	FT (index-target tapping)	An infrared photoelectric sensor	Tapping index finger for 8 s at a fast pace within the device's frame first with the right and then with the left hand	Frequency
Suzumura (2021) [73]	Both hands	FT (index-thumb tapping)	A FT device with magnetic sensors (UB-2, Maxell Holdings, Ltd, Tokyo, Japan) Colour-coded cables were attached to the dorsum of participants' index fingers and thumbs	Tapping index finger to thumb at a fast pace for 15 s under four conditions: a single hand at a time, both hands simultaneously and both hands alternately	36 variables such as: Max amplitude Max velocity SD of velocity Accretion SD of inter-tapping interval Inter-tapping interval variability
Colella (2021) [74]	Dominant hand	FT (index-thumb tapping)	Wearable sensors: An optoelectronic system (SMART motion, BTS Technology, Italy)	Tapping index finger on their thumb as widely as possible at a fast pace for 15 s in three trials	Amplitude Velocity Rhythm
Cosgrove (2021) [75]	Both hands (trials alternated between hands)	Reach/Grasp/Lift	The object was a cylindrical Philips Imageo rechargeable candle made of Perspex. Movements were recorded using a Polhemus Patriot electromagnetic tracking device	Grasping the object, lifting it vertically and then placing it back on the table. Five trials for each hand completed under four conditions: normal lighting (self- and fast-paced) and self-selected pace (darkened room and eyes closed)	Reaction time Movement time
Davoudi (2021) [76]	Dominant hand	Drawing (digital Clock Drawing Test)	Digital pen	Drawing a clockface with hands to 10 after 11 on paper using a digital pen	37 variables including: Number of strokes Completion time Velocity Average pen pressure on paper
Kutz (2022) [77]	Dominant hand (dominant index finger)	FT (index-target tapping)	A force transducer (manufacturer: Measurement Specialties Inc., Hampton, VA, USA; Model: FX-1901–0001-50 L)	Tapping index finger on the force transducer for 15 s and under two different conditions: at a self-selected pace (three trials) and at a fast pace (two trials)	Tapping cycle time and its components (time on the device and time off) Maximum tapping force
Schmidt (2022) [78]	Both hands	ILFT	Camera to take photos of gestures for subsequent evaluation	Imitating bimanual non-symbolic gestures after demonstration by examiner	Individual scores Total score

FT finger tapping; PPT Purdue Pegboard Test; ILFT Interlocking Finger Test, SD Standard Deviation