Technologies

A clinical impairment measure for the upper limb for use after tetraplegia

The GRASSP measure is a) for use by clinicians in the clinical setting as a clinical outcome measure, b) researchers in the clinical/research setting as a primary or secondary outcome measure, and c) academics who are involved in investigator-driven research. GRASSP development has been a staged process with a number of different research groups and funding agencies involved.
The GRASSP is a clinical impairment measure for the upper limb for use after tetraplegia. The measure includes three domains important in describing hand function: strength, sensibility, and prehension. The overall objective for the assembly of the GRASSP was to develop a clinical research tool that could capture information on hand impairment from the cervical (C0-T1) spinal cord injury (SCI) population, obtain integrated sensory and motor impairment data, and discriminate the population according to the level of lesion. Specifically, the goal was to design a hand impairment tool that:

• Was highly responsive (sensitive) to change over time;
• Could assess the extent of spontaneous (natural) recovery; and
• Could be applicable for use in clinical trials to evaluate the effect of novel interventions (pharmacological and surgical).

The GRASSP is recommended for use in very early acute phases to approximately one year post tetraplegia. Use of the GRASSP is also recommended when a change in neurological status is being assessed.