A Comparative Study on the Effect of Regular Intake of Caffeine on Hand Steadiness Test in Right Hand Dominant Females

Abstract

Caffeine is a CNS stimulant affecting normal cellular functions and increase energetic metabolism throughout the brain by enhancing alertness. Steadiness Tester – 9 Holes measures one of the aspect of psychomotor phenomena of steadiness. Our study was done to find out the difference in hand steadiness between caffeine users and non -caffeine users. Our study was done on 60 subjects aged between 18-45 years. All the subjects were females. 30 subjects were included in group A as only caffeine users and 30 were Tee totaller acting as controls under Group B. consent was obtained from all the volunteers. All the subjects were tested on a standard laboratory 9 hole steadiness tester. Subjects were asked to hold a stylus in a series of holes decreasing from 12.5 mm to 2.5 mm without touching the sides of the holes. The number of contacts or errors during the test were noted. The results showed that group B were steadiest in comparison to Group A. Statistically significant differences was found in the hole 4 at p< 0.05 and highly statistical significant results obtained from holes 5 to 9 at p≤0.001. Group B controls were steadier than Group A due to non-consumption of tobacco, alcohol, caffeine and any type of drug abuse.