Citation

Marmon AR, Pascoe MA, Schwartz RS, Enoka RM. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2011; 43(4): 560-567.

Affiliation

1University of Delaware, Department of Physical Therapy, Newark, DE 2University of Colorado at Boulder, Department of Integrative Physiology, Boulder, CO 3University of Colorado at Denver, Department of Medicine, Denver, CO.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181f3f3ab

PMID

20689447

Abstract

INTRODUCTION.: Age-related differences in force steadiness have been extensively examined and used as an index of motor function. However, the functional relevance of steadiness remains unclear. PURPOSE.: The aim here was to evaluate the relations among hand strength, steadiness, and function across the adult life-span. METHODS.: Seventy-five adults (45 women; 18-89 yr) performed 3 strength, 2 steadiness, and 4 functional tests with both hands. Strength was measured during index finger abduction, precision pinch, and handgrip, and steadiness was measured during index finger abduction and precision pinch. Functional tests included the Grooved Pegboard test, the game Operation, a scissor task, and a tracing task. Results. Moderate correlations were observed between both steadiness tasks and performance on the Grooved Pegboard test (R= 0.57 and R= 0.46, respectively) and the game Operation (R2=-0.47 and R= -0.57, respectively). CONCLUSIONS.: The relation between measures of steadiness and hand function suggests that the physiological mechanisms responsible for differences in steadiness also contribute to differences in the performance of fine motor tasks with the hand.

Language: en