Measuring dexterity in the podiatrist population: a cross-sectional comparison of novice students and experienced podiatrists

Abstract

BackgroundThere is no ‘gold-standard’ for the evaluation of dexterity for the health professional or podiatrist populations. This has resulted in a broad array of generalised tests to evaluate dexterity. Thus, the aim was to determine which objective generalised dexterity tests are best suited to evaluating dexterity in a podiatry student population.MethodsA cohort of Novice podiatry students and Experienced podiatrists were recruited and evaluated on a battery of dexterity tests selected to evaluate a variety of different elements. Group differences were evaluated statistically and regression undertaken on significant test outcomes.ResultsA total of 108 participants were recruited with 54 participants in each of the Novice and Experienced groups. Five of the eight tests were able to discriminate dexterous ability of participants in the Novice and Experienced groups. These included the Grip-lift task, GPT, P-MVC, G-MVC and the AsTex® sensory discrimination test. These tests comprised a total of 11 significant dependent variables (p < 0.05). From the test battery, outcomes were able to predict 79% of the group membership. Age and experience did not explain within-group variability for the Experienced group.ConclusionWhilst the Experienced group displayed superior performance in strength and speed, the Novice group showed superior coordination and sensory ability. From these findings, we would recommend that outcomes from the Grooved Pegboard Test, Grip-lift task, Grip Strength test and Pinch Grip strength test be used to evaluate elements of dexterity in this population.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12909-018-1276-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The effect of harness suspension on a simulated maintenance task efficacy in the renewable energy industry

“…While the literature has no examples of fine motor skills amongst this occupational group, there is mixed evidence among other professions. Experienced podiatrists outperformed novices in strength and speed of fine motor tasks, novices were superior at coordination and sensory ability (Causby et al, 2018). Musicians outperformed non-musicians in timing but not spatial aspects of finger placement (Kincaid et al, 2002).…”