Kruger, Annelize, Strauss, Monique, Visser, Marieta, Kruger, Annelize, Strauss, Monique, and Visser, Marieta
Assessment of in-hand manipulation skills is fundamental in determining the appropriate treatment for a child with fine motor delays. For a child, in-hand manipulation is the complex movements required to effectively perform scholastic (e.g. writing), self-care (e.g. buttoning), and play tasks (e.g. puzzle-building), with precision. There is a growing interest in in-hand manipulation; thus, there is an increased effort to develop a modified classification system and various preliminary instruments. Handwriting studies were also performed that recognise in-hand manipulation as an essential performance component. However, there is limited research available that provide insight regarding the assessment of in-hand manipulation among South African occupational therapists. The main research question was to describe how paediatric occupational therapists in South Africa assesses in-hand manipulation of children. A descriptive quantitative research design was used to answer the proposed research question. The objectives were to describe the paediatric assessment instruments that have been published in literature, the assessment methods used by South African occupational therapists in paediatric practices, their preferences for a suitable instrument and if there were any associations between these results and the different practice sectors that the occupational therapists work in. This study was conducted in the form of two academic articles. The first study followed a non-empirical approach for a theoretical article, with the scoping review as the chosen method. Emphasis was placed on providing an overview of the different in-hand manipulation instruments described in the literature. Each identified in-hand manipulation instrument was critically evaluated pertaining to what extent the in-hand manipulation components are included in the study, the clinical utility that related to how accessible and practical the instruments were and what psychometric properties were establi, Postgraduate School from the University of the Free State