53 ALTERED SENSORIMOTOR REPRESENTATIONS IN NA 3 choice items that cover seven subscales. Sum scores range from 14-100 with higher scores reflecting higher functional capability. Second, the Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) assesses shoulder, arm and hand capability. The DASH has been used in multiple disorders of the upper limb. 48 It consists of 30 multiple choice items about movements and movement-related complaints during daily activities, and contains two optional modules on work and sports/performing arts. Scores for the main test range from 1-100, with higher scores reflecting more impairment. Sample size calculation As there were no available previous data to conduct a power analysis on, the sample size of the current study was based on comparable studies, using the same task, in different populations. 31, 45, 72 Experimental design We used the hand laterality judgment task29 to compare sensorimotor representations of the upper limb between NA patients and healthy controls. Participants were seated in front of a computer screen and were presented with white line drawings of hands on a black background. Their task was to judge whether the stimulus on display represented a left or a right hand. Participants were told that they could use their own hands as reference (i.e. they could imagine moving their own limb to match the hand on display), but they were asked not to actually move their own upper limb (confirmed using electromyography, see below). A cover obscured participants’ hands from view, to prevent the use of visual information. Participants responded by pressing a button with the corresponding left or right foot. Participants performed 24-32 practice trials to get familiar with the task. The task consisted of 30-32 blocks of 12 trials each (the first 11 participants only performed Table 1 Participant characteristics The information in the table includes only the participants that were included in the final analyses (21 neuralgic amyotrophy patients, 20 healthy controls). The mean ± standard deviation are displayed for all measures, except for the serratus anterior strength, where the mean ± standard error of the mean are displayed. SRQ-DLV scores were missing for four patients. NA = neuralgic amyotrophy; SRQ-DLV = Shoulder Rating Questionnaire – Dutch Language Version; DASH = Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand. * significant difference (p < .01) between NA patients’ right/affected and left/unaffected serratus anterior strength, as well as between NA patients’ right/affected and healthy controls’ right/dominant serratus anterior strength.
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