Descriptive Study Of Hand Grip Strength And Factors Associated With It In A Group Of Young Undergraduate Students In University Of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka Who Are Not Participating In Regular Physical Training

Background: Handgrip strength (HGS) not only reflects the strength of the upper limb muscles; it also reflects the overall strength of the skeletal muscles and physical fitness. Further, it is being used as an indicator of nutritional status too. Undergraduate students have been described as having low physical fitness due to their sedentary lifestyle in many studies. Therefore, this study describes the HGS and its association with gender, hand dominance, Body Mass Index (BMI), hand and forearm anthropometries in a group of young undergraduate students of the University who do not participate in regular physical training. Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study, and was conducted among healthy first-year residential undergraduate student population (n= 524, 350 females, 174 males, mean age= 21.31 ± 0.93). Main outcome measures were HGS, gender, hand dominance, BMI, hand length, hand span, handbreadth, forearm length, forearm girth, and wrist circumference. Results: HGS of the dominant hand of male students was 35.27 ± 5.91 kg, which is significantly higher (p< 0.05) than that of the females (19.52 ± 4.34 kg). However, it has a significant but weakly positive correlation with other variables measured except for forearm length. Conclusion: This study has provided an insight into the association of low HGS with physical inactivity in an academically oriented group where the BMI is within the normal range and the association of higher HGS with hand dominance and male gender.

Uso do sistema âncora nas duas mãos e na mão não dominante reduz a oscilação corporal em idosos / Use of the anchor system with both hands, and with the non-dominant hand reduces body oscillation in older adults

O propósito do presente estudo foi comparar o efeito do uso do sistema âncora bilateralmente e unilateralmente (mão dominante e mão não dominante) em idosos em duas condições visuais (com e sem visão disponível). Para tanto, 14 idosos ficaram na posição semi tandem sobre uma plataforma de força. Eles realizaram oito condições experimentais combinando o uso do sistema âncora (duas mãos, mão dominante, mão não dominante e sem âncora) e a disponibilidade de visão (com e sem). Os resultados da área da elipse ajustada ao deslocamento do centro de pressão (CP) e da velocidade média de oscilação do CP mostraram que as condições realizadas com a âncora nas duas mãos e com a âncora na mão não dominante reduziram a oscilação corporal e a velocidade de oscilação em comparação à condição sem âncora. Além disso, a presença de visão também reduziu a área da elipse e a velocidade média de oscilação. No geral, portanto, o sistema âncora se mostrou um instrumento eficaz que permitiu aos participantes idosos diminuírem a oscilação corporal, favorecendo a melhora do equilíbrio. Apesar disso, o efeito da adição de informação háptica foi similar nas diferentes condições visuais testadas, sugerindo que a informação háptica adicional fornecida por meio do sistema âncora tem um peso constante e, portanto, não varia em função das alterações da disponibilidade de visão. Além disso, esses resultados contradizem estudos anteriores que utilizaram o paradigma do toque leve. Diferenças entre os paradigmas do toque leve e do sistema âncora e assimetrias inter-hemisféricas em tarefas de percepção háptica foram usados para explicar essas contradições.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of using the anchor system bilaterally and unilaterally (dominant and non-dominant hands), in older adults, in two visual conditions (with and without vision). Fourteen older adults were positioned in a semi-tandem position on a force plate, where they performed tasks under eight experimental conditions that employed the anchor system (two-handed, dominant hand, non-dominant hand, and without anchor), both with and without vision. The results, illustrated through the ellipse area adjusted to the displacement of the center of pressure (COP) and the mean sway velocity of the COP, showed that tasks performed with the anchor system held by both hands, and the anchor system held by the non-dominant hand, reduced both body sway and velocity when compared to the condition without the anchor. Furthermore, the task conditions with vision also reduced the ellipse area and the mean sway velocity. Overall, the anchor system is a tool that effectively allowed the older adults to decrease body sway. The effect of adding haptic information was similar throughout the different visual conditions tested, suggesting that the additional haptic information provided by the anchor system had a constant impact and did not vary with changes in the availability of vision. These results add new insights to the field of haptics when compared to findings of previous studies that use the light touch paradigm. Differences between the paradigms of light touch and the anchor system-and inter-hemispheric asymmetries in haptic perception tasks-were used to explain these insights.

Influences of hand dominance on the maintenance of benefits after home-based modified constraint-induced movement therapy in individuals with stroke

Objective: To investigate the influence of hand dominance on the maintenance of gains after home-based modified constraint-induced movement therapy (mCIMT). Method: Aprevious randomized controlled trial was conducted to examine the addition of trunk restraint to the mCIMT. Twenty-two chronic stroke survivors with mild to moderate motor impairments received individual home-based mCIMT with or without trunk restraints, five times per week, three hours daily over two weeks. In this study, the participants were separated into dominant group, which had their paretic upper limb as dominant before the stroke (n=8), and non-dominant group (n=14) for analyses. The ability to perform unimanual tasks was measured by the Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT) and the Motor Activity Log (MAL), whereas the capacity to perform bimanual tasks was measured using the Bilateral Activity Assessment Scale (BAAS). Results: Analysis revealed significant positive effects on the MAL amount of use and quality of the movement scales, as well as on the BAAS scores after intervention, with no differences between groups. Both groups maintained the bimanual improvements during follow-ups (BAAS-seconds 0.1, 95% CI -10.0 to 10.0), however only the dominant group maintained the unilateral improvements (MAL-amount of use: 1.5, 95% CI 0.7 to 2.3; MAL-quality: 1.3, 95% CI 0.5 to 2.1). Conclusions: Upper limb dominance did not interfere with the acquisition of upper limb skills after mCIMT. However, the participants whose paretic upper limb was dominant demonstrated better abilities to maintain the unilateral gains. The bilateral improvements were maintained, regardless of upper limb dominance. .

The effect of hand dominance on neuromuscular monitoring at the adductor pollicis muscle / 대한마취과학회지

BACKGROUND: Neuromuscular blockade of the adductor pollicis muscle may be influenced by hand dominance resulting in conflicting results of several studies. The current study examined whether hand dominance could influence the measurements of neuromuscular blockade with acceleromyography at the adductor pollicis. METHODS: The acceleromyographic responses from 0.6 mg/kg of rocuronium were monitored supramaximally in both hands in 31 patients after induction of anesthesia. Onset, maximum effect, and offset of rocuronium were measured and compared in both hands. The train-of-four (TOF) ratios to 0.9 were recorded in all patients. RESULTS: In total, 27 patients were right-handed and 4 patients were left-handed. The mean supramaximal threshold or initial TOF ratio was not different between dominant and nondominant hands. No statistically significant differences were found between 716 paired TOF ratios in both hands. A correlation was seen between the dominant and nondominant hand (Nondominant = 0.931.Dominant + 1.714, R = 0.929). The analysis by the Bland-Altman plot showed an excellent agreement with a bias of 1.6% and limits of agreement of -21.2 to 24.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Dominant and nondominant hands can be used interchangeably for neuromuscular monitoring at the adductor pollicis.

Changes in Ipsilateral Motor Cortex Excitability during Hand Exercise in Normal Subjects

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of complexity of unilateral hand activity or dominance of hand on ipsilateral motor cortex excitability. METHOD: Twenty healthy volunteers of right handedness were recruited. We applied the transcranial magnetic stimulation on right hemisphere, and measured motor evoked potential (MEP) at left first dorsal interossei (FDI). We observed the changes of MEP amplitude during the execution of three different complexities of right finger movement. We set the motor tasks as (1) relaxed state, (2) repetitive opposition of 3rd finger (simple exercise) and (3) opposition of 3rd, 5th, 2nd, 4th finger (complex exercise). These tasks were performed within one minute, and repeated 3 times. To observe the effect of hand dominance, we also measured MEP at right FDI during left hand movements. RESULTS: Ipsilateral motor cortex was significantly facilitated by ipsilateral voluntary hand activity (p<0.01). And the MEP amplitude was also increased by complexity of hand exercise. CONCLUSION: We found that the excitability of ipsilateral motor cortex was changed by unilateral hand exercise, and the excitability was increased by complexity of hand exercise.