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Brooke%20Upper%20Extremity%20Scale
Availability
The instrument is freely available here: Brooke Upper Extremity Scale Link
Classification
Supplemental – Highly Recommended: Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD)
 
Supplemental: Congenital Muscular Dystrophy (CMD)
Short Description of Instrument
The Brooke Upper Extremity Scale is a 6-point scale that allows classification of upper extremity function and also helps document progression.
Comments
Additional equipment is needed to perform this test.
Scoring
Functional Grades: Arms and Shoulders:
    1. Standing with arms at the sides, the patient can abduct the arms in a full circle until they touch above the head.

    2. The patient can raise the arms above the head only by flexing the elbow or by using accessory muscles (i.e. by shortening the circumference of the movement)

    3. The patient cannot raise hands above the head, but can raise an 8-oz. glass of water to the mouth (using both hands if necessary).

    4. The patient can raise hands to mouth, but cannot raise 8 oz. glass of water to the mouth

    5. The patient cannot raise hands to the mouth, but can use the hands to hold a pen or to pick up pennies from a table.

The patient cannot raise hands to the mouth and has no useful function of the hands.
References
Brooke MH, Griggs RC, Mendell JR, Fenichel GM, Shumate JB, Pellegrino RJ. Clinical trial in Duchenne dystrophy. I. The design of the protocol. Muscle Nerve. 1981;4(3):186-197.

 

Document last updated July 2019