Touch Sensitivity Through Latex Examination Gloves

Abstract

Two studies were conducted to empirically evaluate individuals' touch sensitivity while wearing latex medical-examination gloves. In Experiment 1, three sensitivity threshold measures (two-point, von Frey, and thumb-index finger opposition) were used in three conditions--no glove, best-fitting glove, and ill-fitting glove. No effect of glove condition was found for the two-point measure, but significant effects were found for the von Frey and finger-opposition measures. In Experiment 2, participants attempted to sense the presence or absence of monofilament fibers of different diameters. Glove condition (no glove, best-fitting, and ill-fitting) and touch strategy (active vs. passive) were manipulated for each participant. Although there was no overall effect for glove condition, active touch proved consistently superior to passive touch.

Impact of Gloves on User Performance and Comfort in the Semiconductor Industry

“…There have been conflicting reports about the relationship between glove thickness and loss of tactile sensation (Mital et al., ; Salkin, Stuchin, Kummer, & Reininger, ; Thompson & Lambert, ; Wilson, Sellu, Uy, & Jaffer, ); however, these may be explained by the variations in the demands of the test task (maximal vs. submaximal). As gloves are generally not used to exert maximal efforts, it would appear to be preferable to assess gloves in submaximal tasks, thereby allowing a better generalization of the results to more functional or everyday tasks.…”

Tactile roughness perception with a rigid link interposed between skin and surface

“…In support ofTaylor and Lederman's original result, no differences were obtained.' (See, also, Thompson & Lambert, 1995, for a null effect of a latex glove on twopoint threshold and detection of fibers.) The sheath provides not only a rigid but a large contact surface, one that is larger than any of the interelement spacings.…”

Relative roles of spatial and intensive cues in the discrimination of spatial tactile stimuli

“…These studies have used a wide variety of tasks that may involve spatial mechanisms. In some of these studies, no significant decrease in spatial sensitivity with gloves was reported (Brisben, Hsiao, Looft, & Johnson, 1992;Heller & Mitchell, 1985;Klatzy & Lederman, 1999;Nelson & Mital, 1995;Novak, Patterson, & Mackinnon, 1999;Thompson & Lambert, 1995;Webb & Pentlow, 1993;M. P. Wilson, Gound, Tishk, & Feil, 1986), whereas, in other studies, gloves significantly reduced spatial sensitivity (Cunningham, Delargy, & Warnock, 1992;A.…”

“…Other investigators have used a tra-ditional measure of spatial sensitivity, such as the twopoint threshold. In the studies that used the two-point threshold, no change in sensitivity with gloves was found (Novak et al, 1999;Thompson & Lambert, 1995;Webb & Pentlow, 1993); however, there are a number of problems with the two-point threshold as a measure of spatial acuity. Chief among these problems is the unreliability of the results both between and within subjects (Craig & Johnson, 2000;Johnson, Van Boven, & Hsiao, 1994).…”