Upper Extremity Performance Test for the Elderly (TEMPA): Normative Data for Young Adults

This study was a clinical study designed to generate normative data. Normative data for subjects aged 60–94 years have been published for the Test d’Evaluation des Membres Supérieurs de Personnes Âgées (TEMPA), a performance-based evaluation. The purpose of the study was to develop norms for adults between 20 and 44 years of age for the TEMPA. Two hundred eighty-seven participants between the ages of 20 and 44 years were recruited for this study. The TEMPA was administered to all participants, first at their usual speed (relaxed pace), then as quickly as possible (maximal speed), and their speed of execution was recorded. Normative data were generated and stratified for age and gender. Older participants were generally faster when tasks were performed at a relaxed pace. When the tasks were performed at maximal speed, older participants were faster for only one task. Women were faster on four tasks and men on one task. Most of the participants’ job classification included sedentary to medium demands. Job demand classification had an effect on four of nine tasks when performed at a relaxed pace and two of nine tasks when performed at maximal speed. Normative data for this age group are now available for the TEMPA and can be used by clinicians to differentiate pathological performance from normal performance.Level of EvidenceNot applicable.