Effects of Aging on Adult Hand Function

Abstract

The effects that normal aging have on adult hand function and functional performance are not well understood. An empirical study was conducted examining relationships between prehension pattern type and frequency, hand strength, and performance time in functional tasks. Four groups of 10 adults were selected by age and gender, ranging from 24 to 87 years. Subjects were asked to pour milk into a cup and remove money from a wallet while being videotaped. Prehension patterns were identified with a functionally based classification system. Grip and three types of pinch were measured with a dynamometer and a pinch gauge. Prehension pattern selection did not seem to differ with age. Statistically significant differences in age were found for prehension pattern frequency, hand strength, and performance time. Nondysfunctional older subjects were observed resetting identical prehension patterns secondary to lateral pinch weakness, which contributed to increased prehension pattern frequency and performance time. Hand function seemed to remain stable until age 65 years, after which it diminished slowly. After age 75 years, age differences in performance were most apparent.

The effects of Tai-Chi-Soft-Ball training on physical functional health of Chinese older adult

“…required manipulative skills and ability (Pei et al, 2008;Saxton, 2007), which dropped constantly after age 65 years (Shiffman, 1992). The present findings assured the effectiveness of TCSB training on promoting and maintaining the hand eye coordination and arm muscle strength.…”

Predicting hand function in older adults: evaluations of grip strength, arm curl strength, and manual dexterity

“…Compared to young adults, older adults readjust their hand position on the grasped object more often and demonstrate greater variations in their prehension patterns, such as tripod pinch or lateral pinch, when retrieving coins from a purse of pouring milk from a container [36]. After controlling the factor of affected movements due to arthritis, participants with stronger arm curl strength and better manual dexterous coordination used less time to complete the subtests of Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test than those with weaker arm curl strength and poor manual dexterous coordination.…”

Validação do questionário de avaliação funcional das mãos em hanseníase

“…Shiffman 18 reports functional decline of the hands from the age of 65 onwards. To Hackel et al, 8 the manual function analyzed by the test of Jebsen et al 10 decreases to men and women aged 60 to 89 years.…”