The Minnesota Rate of Manipulation Test or Minnesota Manual Dexterity Test is a series of tests of eye-hand coordination and motor abilities. The test package is commonly used in the evaluation of occupational fitness, disability evaluation and in rehabilitation.
test purpose: measures the speed of gross arm and hand movements during rapid eye-hand coordination tasks.
equipment required: The testing kit that has to be purchased includes 2 folding boards, and 60 blocks. The wooden folding frame is 3 foot long, with 60 holes in four horizontal rows for placing the blocks.
pre-test: Explain the test procedures to the subject. Perform screening of health risks and obtain informed consent. Prepare forms and record basic information such as age, height, body weight, gender and test conditions. See more details of pre-test procedures.
procedure: The complete test consists of a battery of five sub-tests: Placing, Turning, Displacing, One-Hand Turning and Placing and Two-Hand Turning and Placing. The tests are performed while standing. Each test is started with a practice trial, and then each test tested 3-5 times. Both hands can be tested and compared.
variations: There are several variations of the tests, you could test eye foot dexterity for those with no upper limbs and it is also possible to use it with blind people.
scoring: The time of each test is recorded to the nearest second, and the overall score is the total time of all tests combined. The times for each hand/side can be compared, and the total time compared to normative values.
disadvantages: the specially constructed board and other testing kit items need to be purchased.
target population: This test is applicable for testing workers in occupations requiring quick movement in handling simple tools and production materials without differentiating size and shape.