Preliminary Reference Values for the Jebsen–Taylor Hand Function Test in Adults in Delhi, India

Background: The Jebsen–Taylor Hand Function Test (JTHFT) is a timed performance-based assessment of hand function comprising seven subtests relevant to activities of daily living. Because the test was originally developed in the United States, population-specific reference values may be useful when interpreting performance in other settings.
Objective: To generate preliminary reference values for JTHFT performance among adults in Delhi and to examine differences according to age, sex, and hand dominance.
Methods: A cross-sectional methodological survey included 100 apparently healthy adults (50 men and 50 women). Participants were divided into younger adults (20–59 years; n=80) and older adults (60–94 years; n=20), with 40 men and 40 women in the younger group and 10 men and 10 women in the older group. JTHFT performance was timed for the dominant and non-dominant hands. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 16.0. Independent-samples t-tests were reported for between-group comparisons, with statistical significance defined as p<0.05.
Results: Mean completion time was below 10 seconds for all subtests except writing. Writing with the non-dominant hand showed the largest standard deviation. The manuscript reports significant age- and sex-related differences for selected subtests, while several other comparisons were not statistically significant. Because the older age strata contained only 10 participants of each sex and recruitment used convenience sampling, the resulting values should be regarded as preliminary reference values rather than definitive population norms.
Conclusion: The study provides preliminary descriptive reference values for JTHFT performance in the sampled Delhi population. Larger, probability-based studies with adequate representation across age and sex strata are required before these values can be considered broadly generalizable normative data.

Jebsen–Taylor Hand Function Test; JTHFT; hand function; reference values; normative data; Delhi; India; age; sex; hand dominance

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