Motor Measures

Health Measures Transforming How Health is Measured

NIH Toolbox Motor Battery – Ages 18+

Construct	Measure	Description	Test Time (minutes)	Materials Required	Preview	Manual	eLearning
Dexterity	9-hole Pegboard Dexterity Test Age 3+	One’s ability to coordinate the fingers and manipulate objects in a timely manner.			Watch Demo Video	Read User Guide	View Online Training
Strength	Grip Strength Test Age 3+	The capacity of a muscle to produce the tension and power necessary for maintaining posture, initiating movement, or controlling movement during conditions of loading the musculoskeletal system.			Watch Demo Video	Read User Guide	View Online Training
Balance	Standing Balance Test Age 7+	The ability to orient the body in space, maintain an upright posture under both static and dynamic conditions, and move and walk without falling.			Watch Demo Video	Read User Guide	View Online Training
Endurance	2-Minute Walk Endurance Test Age 3+	The ability to sustain effort that requires conjoint work capacities from cardiopulmonary function, biomechanical, and neuromuscular function.			Watch Demo Video	Read User Guide	View Online Training
Locomotion	4 Meter Walk Gait Speed Test Age 7+	Measures locomotion. Participants walk a short distance at their usual pace, completing one practice and two timed trials. Scores are recorded as time in seconds required to walk 4 meters on each of two trials, with the better trial used for scoring.			Watch Demo Video	Read User Guide	View Online Training

= time to complete in minutes

= additional materials or equipment needed

The NIH Toolbox Motor measures were developed by a multi-institutional team of measurement experts as part of the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research.

NIH Toolbox Motor Battery – Ages 7-17

Construct	Measure	Description	Test Time (minutes)	Materials Required	Preview	Manual	eLearning
Dexterity	9-hole Pegboard Dexterity Test Age 3+	One’s ability to coordinate the fingers and manipulate objects in a timely manner.			Watch Demo Video	Read User Guide	View Online Training
Strength	Grip Strength Test Age 3+	Measures muscle strength. Participants are seated in a chair with feet touching the ground with the elbow bent to 90 degrees, arm near the trunk, wrist at neutral. Participants squeeze the dynamometer as hard as they can for a count of three. The dynamometer provides a digital reading of force in pounds.			Watch Demo Video	Read User Guide	View Online Training
Balance	Standing Balance Test Age 7+	Measures static standing balance. Participant assumes and maintains up to five poses for 50 seconds each. Poses include: solid surface; foam surface; eyes open in tandem stance on a solid surface. Postural sway is recorded for each pose using an iPod Touch that the participant wears at waist level.			Watch Demo Video	Read User Guide	View Online Training
Endurance	2-Minute Walk Endurance Test Age 3+	The ability to sustain effort that requires conjoint work capacities from cardiopulmonary function, biomechanical, and neuromuscular function.			Watch Demo Video	Read User Guide	View Online Training
Locomotion	4 Meter Walk Gait Speed Test Age 7+	Measures locomotion. Participants are asked to walk a short distance at their usual pace, completing one practice and then two timed trials. Raw scores are recorded as the time in seconds required to walk 4 meters on each of the two trials, with the better trial used for scoring.			Watch Demo Video	Read User Guide	View Online Training

= time to complete in minutes

= additional materials or equipment needed

The NIH Toolbox Motor measures were developed by a multi-institutional team of measurement experts as part of the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research.

NIH Toolbox Motor Battery – Ages 3-6

Construct	Measure	Description	Test Time (minutes)	Materials Required	Preview	Manual	eLearning
Dexterity	9-hole Pegboard Dexterity Test Age 3+	One’s ability to coordinate the fingers and manipulate objects in a timely manner.			Watch Demo Video	Read User Guide	View Online Training
Strength	Grip Strength Test Age 3+	Measures muscle strength. Participants are seated in a chair and squeeze the dynamometer as hard as they can for a count of three. The dynamometer provides a digital reading of force in pounds.			Watch Demo Video	Read User Guide	View Online Training
Balance	Standing Balance Test Ages 3-6	Measures static standing balance. Participant assumes and maintains up to five poses for 50 seconds each. Postural sway is recorded for each pose using an iPod Touch that the participant wears at waist level.			Watch Demo Video	Read User Guide	View Online Training
Endurance	2-Minute Walk Endurance Test Age 3+	The ability to sustain effort that requires conjoint work capacities from cardiopulmonary function, biomechanical, and neuromuscular function.			Watch Demo Video	Read User Guide	View Online Training

= time to complete in minutes

= additional materials or equipment needed

The NIH Toolbox Motor measures were developed by a multi-institutional team of measurement experts as part of the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research.