Writer's cramp is a focal dystonia affecting muscles in the distal upper limb that affects fine motor activities such as penmanship. This can impair a person's ability to communicate through handwriting.
Tsui et al graded writer's cramp as follows:
|
Legibility of Handwriting |
Grade |
|
totally illegible |
0 |
|
some words illegible |
1 |
|
all words legible but some with difficulty |
2 |
|
all words easily legible |
3 |
|
Effect of a Therapeutic Intervention |
Score |
|
worse |
-1 |
|
no change |
0 |
|
improved |
1 |
|
improved dramatically |
2 |
Having tried to decipher physician orders (and my own handwriting) for many years the grading scheme seems to be oversimplified. The following scale might prove more useful.
|
Legibility |
Difficulty to Decipher Meaning |
Grade |
|
none |
impossible |
0 |
|
a few words |
difficult to impossible |
1 |
|
some words |
difficult to impossible |
2 |
|
most words |
difficult |
3 |
|
all words |
difficult |
4 |
|
all words |
with some effort |
5 |
|
all words |
easy |
6 |
Purpose: To evaluate the handwriting of a person with writer's cramp (focal dystonia of the distal upper limb).
Specialty: Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation, Neurology
Objective: severity, prognosis, stage, disability and performance
ICD-10: F48.8, G24, G25.8,
