Title of Assessment
9-Hole Peg Test
Author(s)
Kellor
Year of Publication/Publisher
1971
Identify Type of Assessment
standardized
observation based
norm-referenced
Cost (identify source) & How to Access Assessment (include link if possible)
Population (who it is appropriate for [age, diagnosis, etc.])
all ages
neurocognitive disorder, MS, ALS, stroke, and pediatric disorders
Appropriate Settings (potential practice settings appropriate to administer assessment in)
inpatient, outpatient, acute care, SNF, home health, school, and community-based
Purpose of Assessment & Function(s)/Area(s) Assessed
The purpose of the 9-hole peg test is to measure an individual's finger dexterity. The scores of this assessment measure muscle strength, tactile sensitivity of the thumb and other phalanges, and the presence of any intention tremors.
Administration (time to administer, group/individual, if there are subtests, can they be completed individually, are there specific instructions to ensure standardization, etc.)
approximately 5 minutes
individual with administer keeping time
the client will have the peg board in front of them with all 9 pegs on their dominant side, using their dominant hand they will be asked to place each peg one by one in the peg board starting in the farthest row and moving forward. Once they have put all the pegs in, they will remove each one individually and the time will stop.
This is to be repeated 3 times, then the average of the three taken.
Then the pegs will be moved to the non-dominant side and using that hand repeat the same thing.
User Qualifications
no qualifications or training required
Materials Required
9- hole peg test board, 9 pegs, a paper and writing utensil to keep track of time, and a timer
Scoring Procedure (how is assessment scored and what does score indicate)
There is a scoring card provided with all peg board tests that have norms to reference based on age
each hand is to do this test 3 times, with the average taken time taken from both hands to determine finger dexterity.
alternative scoring: the number of pegs that can be placed in 50 or 10 seconds (peg/s)
Psychometrics/Standardization (norms, reliability/validity studies)
interrater reliability= 0.86-0.98
validity= p<0.05
Strengths & Weaknesses of Assessment
strengths
low cost
quick to administer
easy to administer and provides the administer with ample information on dexterity
weaknesses
many different version available can cause confusion on which to get
References
Feys, P., Lamers, I., Francis, G., Benedict, R., Phillips, G., LaRocca, N., Hudson, L. D., Rudick, R., & Multiple sclerosis outcome assessments consortium (2017). The Nine-Hole Peg Test as a manual dexterity performance measure for multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England), 23(5), 711–720. https://doi.org/10.1177/1352458517690824
“Nine-Hole Peg Test.” Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, www.sralab.org/rehabilitation-measures/nine-hole-peg-test