Comparison of manual dexterity of people with Alzheimer’s disease and cognitively healthy older adults: The impact of cognition

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundAlzheimer’s disease (AD) not only effects the cognitive level, but also leads to significant decline in motor skill. Manual dexterity emerges with the interaction of cognitive and motor processes and is seen as an important predictor of functional independence. The aim of this study was to compare manual dexterity in people with AD with healthy older adults and to investigate the effect of cognitive level on manual dexterity.MethodThe Nine Hole Peg Test (NHPT) was used for manual dexterity assessment. Cognitive function were assessed with Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Statistical analysis was performed by Mann Whitney U Test and regression analysis in SPSS 22.0 package program.ResultTwenty nine people with AD (78.04±6.49, 48.27% female) and ten cognitively healthy older adult (74.8±7.22, 30% female) included study. NHPT results of the dominant hand were 31.87±7.33 sec. and 21.66±2.85 sec.; MoCA scores were 13.79±5.76 and 24.5±2.32, respectively, in the people with AD and cognitively healthy older adults. There was significant difference in NHPT results between groups (p<.001). Significant correlation was found between NHPT and MoCA (p<.001, r = .648). It was found that cognitive level significantly predicted manual dexterity (β = .648, R2 = .42, F [1,27] = 19.58, p<.001).ConclusionManual dexterity in AD shows a significant decrease compared to the cognitively healthy older adults. In our study, it was shown that the decrease in manual dexterity occurs with the effect of cognition at a rate of 42%. Deteriorating manual dexterity with decreased cognition is likely to accelerate patients' withdrawal from activities of daily living. Also, rehabilitation programs that include activities for manual dexterity may slow down the process of participation restriction in AD.