The effect of exposure to cold on dexterity and temperature of the skin and hands

Abstract

Objectives. This study aimed to determine the impact of low temperature (−1 °C, +5 °C) on manual dexterity and hand skin temperature after 1 h of exposure when using two types of protective gloves. Methods. Ten male participants wore double gloves or single gloves, when spending 1 h in a climatic chamber at −1, +5 or +20 °C. Before and after the cold exposure, measurements of mean weighted body skin temperature, hand skin temperature, the Purdue Pegboard Test and hand grip strength were performed. Results. There were statistically significant differences in the values of mean weighted body skin temperature and left and right hand skin temperature between the study variants. Conclusion. No effect of cold exposure (−1 °C, +5 °C) on manual dexterity was observed, but there was an effect of −1 °C temperature change on weighted mean skin temperature and hand skin temperature during 1 h of exposure. The decrease in both right and left hand skin temperature after cold exposure was the largest for −1 °C while using single gloves, and differed significantly from the other variants.