Manual Ability Index in Elderly Population

The aim of this study is to conduct a Turkish validity and reliability study of the hand ability scale in the elderly population. Thus, the psychometric properties of the scale, which evaluates hand use in daily life activities in detail and functionally, will be determined in the elderly and an alternative method will be created to evaluate hand functions in the elderly.The sample of the study consists of 220 elderly individuals aged 65 and over residing in the city center of Isparta. Two independent native Turkish translators performed forward translation. To ensure clinical consistency, it was sent to an expert committee of seven expert physiotherapists, 2 neurologists, 1 gerontologist, and 2 translators with no medical or clinical background to reveal vague concepts in the original questionnaire. A single consequent Turkish translation was formed from the combination of the two translations The Turkish scale was translated back into English by two English-native speakers who speak Turkish fluently, and the English version of the scale was compared to the original. A group of experts authorized the final version of the document in Turkish, which was back ward translation. Translators reviewed the translations and compared certain inconsistencies.

Aging is a complex multifactorial process, the basic mechanism of which is not fully elucidated and leads to deterioration of biological functions.It is stated that the loss of hand function seen in the elderly leads to poor performance in activities of daily living and recreational activities. For this reason, performance measurements in the elderly should include hand function measurement and aim to measure the adequacy and participation of the functions that the elderly person frequently uses in daily life activities. Scales applied to evaluate hand function are generally performance-based. The hand ability scale is among the scales that evaluate hand functions. The scale is used in the subjective evaluation of upper extremity functions and many parameters related to daily living activities in neurological and musculoskeletal problems.Healthy volunteers over the age of 65 were reached from various centers in Isparta, especially the applications made through the announcements on the bulletin boards on the Süleyman Demirel University campus. Each participant was informed about the content of the study, and the volunteers read and signed informed consent forms. Before the formal questionnaire, the pre-final Turkish version of the questionnaire was used for a pilot test. The Turkish translation was primarily applied to five participants for the detection of unintelligible questions or words. Turkish translation was applied to five participants in order to determine the questions or words that were not understood. Investigators asked the participants the following questions: "Is there a question you don't understand?" "Are there any words you don't like?" Since the participants did not have any problems, no changes were made in the questionnaire and the final Turkish version of the MAM (MAM-T) was provided.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* Being 65 years or older,
* Being literate,
* Volunteering to participate in the research,
* It means getting a score of 24 or above when the Standardized Mini Mental Test Score is applied.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Having a condition that prevents them from performing daily life activities,
* Having serious vision and hearing loss,
* Having any neurological, orthopedic or rheumatological comorbidities that may affect hand functions, such as diagnosed stroke, carpal tunnel, lateral epicondylitis,
* Having a diagnosed psychiatric disorder,
* Lack of cooperation,
* Being in the recovery period of an acute illness.