A Cross Sectional Study on Middle Finger Tip Pinch, Ring Finger Tip Pinch, Little Finger Tip Pinch Strengths : The Correlations with Anthropometric Variables in North Indian Population

Abstract

Introduction: Pinch strength in addition to handgrip strength is considered an important factor in the assessment of proper hand muscle function. Various parameters like nutritional status, physical activities and muscle pathologies can affect the overall gripping capabilities of the fingers .The unique abilities of opposition in human hand is because of the distinct articular surfaces in the miniature bones and intrinsic muscles of the hand. Due to fine neuromuscular coordination and sensory perception in the digits, firm grasping abilities and in the hand pinches have developed. These grasps can be very useful for sensory and motor capabilities of the hand specially in sports like cricket, baseball and volleyball. AIM: To generate data for middle finger tip pinch, ring finger tip pinch, little finger tip pinch strengths and to evaluate their correlations with other anthropometric indices. Materials and Methods: Four hundred and fifty healthy young adult individuals were selected for the study. A pinch gauze was used to measure pinch grip strengths in both the sides. Pearson’s correlation test and independent t-tests were used. SPSS Version 20 was used for statistical analysis. Result: Mean age of the population was 22 years and all the subjects were males. Pinch grip strength in all the pinches were found to be greater in dominant side than non dominant side (p<0.001). There was significant association between middle finger tip pinch and anthropometric indices. No statistically significant correlation of little finger tip pinch with waist circumference, waist to hip ratio and BMI was observed. Conclusion: The analysis provides normative data for pinch grip strengths and their correlation with other anthropometric indices in adult North Indian population.