Two-point discrimination assessment of the lower extremities of healthy young Turkish individuals

Abstract

Objectives To investigate the normative two-point discrimination (TPD) values of the lower extremities of healthy young Turkish individuals. Patients and methods Fifty-five healthy, young adults were recruited in this prospective study. Ten lower extremity parts were tested with esthesiometer: proximal thigh, midlateral thigh, midmedial thigh, midposterior thigh, proximal lateral leg, distal lateral leg, medial leg, the tip of great toe, skin over 1–2 metatarsal interspace, skin over 5th metatars at both dominant and non-dominant sides. Results There were 27 (49.1%) female and 28 (50.9%) male participants with a mean age of 22.06 ± 1.76 years. The reference values of the TPD of the lower extremities were between 42.4 ± 5.4 mm and 4.0 ± 1.3 mm by females and between 42.6 ± 6.4 mm and 4.4 ± 2.4 mm by males. Test values in the combined group of men and women were statistically greater at the dominant sides than the non-dominant sides at the following areas: proximal lateral leg (p = 0.01), distal lateral leg (p = 0.046), medial leg (p = 0.001), tip of great toe (p = 0.02), skin over 1–2 metatarsal interspace (p = 0.010), skin over 5th metatars (p = 0.002). There was no statistical difference in the test scores of men and women in any of the measured areas, with additional evaluation of both the dominant and the non-dominant sides (p > 0.05). Conclusion The results of the present study demonstrated that TPD ability varied in different skin areas within the same individual. We found that laterality, though with lower scores on the non-dominant side in some lower extremity parts, but not the gender had an effect on TPD.