THE EFFECTS OF A HAND-BASED HOME-TRAINING PROGRAM ON FINE FORCE PERCEPTION IN OLDER ADULTS

Abstract

Abstract The ability to use and manipulate the hands is essential for completing daily activities such as dressing, food preparation, and medication adherence, but declines with age. Assessments of hand function typically include measures of maximum strength despite our recent findings that fine force control may be more indicative of function than strength. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a hand-based intervention on improving various aspects of hand function in older adults. Eleven older adults (mean age: 77±6.8y, 7 females) completed a 6-week home-based training program consisting of a series of sensorimotor tasks. Hand assessments included tactile sensation, dexterity, maximum grip and pinch strength, and fine force control using a pinch force matching paradigm. In the fine force task, participants were given a reference force (25% MVC) and were instructed to match the force without visual feedback using either the same (ipsilateral) or opposite (contralateral) hand as the reference force. After the training program, older adults displayed a 35% reduction (p < 0.01) in matching error during the contralateral fine force control task. Additionally, both tactile sensation and dexterity showed improvements in the dominant hand (p < 0.05). No differences were observed in maximum pinch or grip strength. We observed improvements in fine force control, tactile sensibility, and dexterity, all of which contribute to hand function needed for daily activities, as a result of the home-based intervention. These results underscore the importance of measuring different aspects of hand function and the need for additional hand-based interventions in the aging population.