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Kinematic analysis is a powerful method for objective assessment of upper extremity movements in a three-dimensional (3D) space. Three-dimensional motion capture with an optoelectronic camera system is considered as golden standard for kinematic movement analysis and is increasingly used as outcome measure to evaluate the movement performance and quality after an injury or disease involving upper extremity movements. This article describes a standardized protocol for kinematic analysis of drinking task applied in individuals with upper extremity impairments after stroke. The drinking task incorporates reaching, grasping and lifting a cup from a table to take a drink, placing the cup back, and moving the hand back to the edge of the table. The sitting position is standardized to the individual's body size and the task is performed in a comfortable self-paced speed and compensatory movements are not constrained. The intention is to keep the task natural and close to a real-life situation to improve the ecological validity of the protocol. A 5-camera motion capture system is used to gather 3D coordinate positions from 9 retroreflective markers positioned on anatomical landmarks of the arm, trunk, and face. A simple single marker placement is used to ensure the feasibility of the protocol in clinical settings. Custom-made Matlab software provides automated and fast analyses of movement data. Temporal kinematics of movement time, velocity, peak velocity, time of peak velocity, and smoothness (number of movement units) along with spatial angular kinematics of shoulder and elbow joint as well as trunk movements are calculated. The drinking task is a valid assessment for individuals with moderate and mild upper extremity impairment. The construct, discriminative and concurrent validity along with responsiveness (sensitivity to change) of the kinematic variables obtained from the drinking task have been established.
Murphy et al. (Wed,) studied this question.