Factors Affecting Gross Manual Dexterity: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Abstract

Gross manual dexterity is an important part of human factors and ergonomics. The purpose of the current study was to investigate factors affecting gross manual dexterity. Gender, palm length, grip strength, hand skin temperature, room temperature, and room humidity were analyzed simultaneously to predict gross manual dexterity by utilizing Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. SEM showed that hand skin temperature was the most important factor for predicting gross manual dexterity, followed by several other factors such as grip strength, gender, and room temperature. In addition, room humidity, age, and hand size were also had significant indirect effects on gross manual dexterity. The SEM derived in this study could be a very valuable theoretical foundation which could be very beneficial for human factors engineer, physical therapist, and even medical doctors.