Grip In Children Research Articles

Association of Initial Muscle Fitness with Weight Loss and Metabolically Healthy Status in Children and Adolescents with Obesity: A Retrospective Study.

This retrospective study aimed to investigate the association of initial muscular fitness (MF) with weight loss and metabolic health status in 282 children and adolescents with obesity during 3 to 4 weeks of diet- and exercise-based interventions. Metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) definitions established in 2023 and MF standards based on the 2021 Chinese children's grip strength grading were applied. The proportion of metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO) was higher in the high MF group than in their low MF counterparts at baseline. After the intervention, neither group transitioned from MUO to MHO due to the high frequency of low HDL-C. High MF females showed a higher percentage of high systolic blood pressure (SBP) than low MF females before and after intervention. High MF males exhibited greater improvements in waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-hip ratio, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and LDL-C than low MF males. The benefits of weight loss and blood lipids obtained by males are more evident than those obtained by females under the same MF level. Thus, attention should be paid to females during weight loss regardless of MF levels. Precision therapy should prioritize the management of blood pressure and avoid excessive reduction in HDL-C levels to sustain metabolic health.

Microstructural neural correlates of maximal grip strength in autistic children: the role of the cortico-cerebellar network and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder features.

Maximal grip strength, a measure of how much force a person's hand can generate when squeezing an object, may be an effective method for understanding potential neurobiological differences during motor tasks. Grip strength in autistic individuals may be of particular interest due to its unique developmental trajectory. While autism-specific differences in grip-brain relationships have been found in adult populations, it is possible that such differences in grip-brain relationships may be present at earlier ages when grip strength is behaviorally similar in autistic and non-autistic groups. Further, such neural differences may lead to the later emergence of diagnostic-group grip differences in adolescence. The present study sought to examine this possibility, while also examining if grip strength could elucidate the neuro-motor sources of phenotypic heterogeneity commonly observed within autism. Using high resolution, multi-shell diffusion, and quantitative R1 relaxometry imaging, this study examined how variations in key sensorimotor-related white matter pathways of the proprioception input, lateral grasping, cortico-cerebellar, and corticospinal networks were associated with individual variations in grip strength in 68 autistic children and 70 non-autistic (neurotypical) children (6-11 years-old). In both groups, results indicated that stronger grip strength was associated with higher proprioceptive input, lateral grasping, and corticospinal (but not cortico-cerebellar modification) fractional anisotropy and R1, indirect measures concordant with stronger microstructural coherence and increased myelination. Diagnostic group differences in these grip-brain relationships were not observed, but the autistic group exhibited more variability particularly in the cortico-cerebellar modification indices. An examination into the variability within the autistic group revealed that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) features moderated the relationships between grip strength and both fractional anisotropy and R1 relaxometry in the premotor-primary motor tract of the lateral grasping network and the cortico-cerebellar network tracts. Specifically, in autistic children with elevated ADHD features (60% of the autistic group) stronger grip strength was related to higher fractional anisotropy and R1 of the cerebellar modification network (stronger microstructural coherence and more myelin), whereas the opposite relationship was observed in autistic children with reduced ADHD features. Together, this work suggests that while the foundational elements of grip strength are similar across school-aged autistic and non-autistic children, neural mechanisms of grip strength within autistic children may additionally depend on the presence of ADHD features. Specifically, stronger, more coherent connections of the cerebellar modification network, which is thought to play a role in refining and optimizing motor commands, may lead to stronger grip in children with more ADHD features, weaker grip in children with fewer ADHD features, and no difference in grip in non-autistic children. While future research is needed to understand if these findings extend to other motor tasks beyond grip strength, these results have implications for understanding the biological basis of neuromotor control in autistic children and emphasize the importance of assessing co-occurring conditions when evaluating brain-behavior relationships in autism.

Exposure to mixture of heavy metals and muscle strength in children and adolescents: a population-based study

Human beings are exposed to heavy metals through various ways in daily life. However, the effect of heavy metal mixtures on muscle strength in children and adolescents remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the relationship of exposure to heavy metal mixtures (barium, cadmium, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, lead, antimony, strontium, tin, thallium, tungsten, uranium, and cesium) with muscle strength in children and adolescents. A total of 1357 (boys, 50.8%) participants aged between 8 and 17 were extracted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 2011-2014. Urine metals were measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Muscle strength was measured through a grip test using a handgrip dynamometer. Weighted quantile sum regression was performed to estimate the mixture effect of urinary metals on muscle strength. After adjusting for potential confounders, comparing participants in the highest versus lowest quartiles of cobalt, molybdenum, lead, antimony, strontium, thallium, and cesium, the handgrip strength decreased by - 4.48kg (95% CI: - 6.93, - 2.03), - 6.13kg (- 8.76, - 3.51), - 2.26kg (- 4.22, - 0.30), - 2.38kg (- 4.68, - 0.08), - 2.29kg (- 4.45, - 0.13), - 4.78kg (- 7.13, - 2.44), and - 5.68kg (- 9.20, - 2.17), respectively. Furthermore, exposure to a mixture of metals were also significantly associated with decreased muscle strength (β: - 2.62kg; 95% CI: - 3.71, - 1.54). Findings from the present study suggest that higher heavy metal exposure and the exposure levels of a mixture of metals in urine are inversely related to handgrip strength, implying that children's grip strength is not entirely explained by energy intake or lack of exercise, but may be related to environmental pollutants.

Improving a hand-therapeutic application for fine-motor skill development through usability evaluation

With the recent advances in learning technologies, researchers are exploring the benefits of touch-based applications to reinforce handwriting skills in children with writing difficulties. One of the reasons for writing difficulties is the lack of fine motor skills. Hence, an Android application was developed for children with writing difficulties to enhance their hand dexterity. It has six activities for improving hand-eye coordination, spatial organisation, and pencil/pen grip in children. The design of all these activities is based on the oscillation theory of handwriting. This paper explains the usability evaluation of this Android app and how improvements have been made in the application based on the user feedback. Ten participants have evaluated the initial prototypes in five iterations and the final product was built by considering their feedback. The study shows that the user evaluation approach is effective in identifying the usability issues and in improving the user interfaces and also the functionalities of the software application. From our experience, we suggest that including user researchers and ET researchers along with children in the usability evaluation process is beneficial, especially when the educational software users are children below 15 years of age.

Inter- and Intrarater Reliability of the Thumb Grasp and Pinch Assessment for Children Following Index Pollicization for Congenital Thumb Hypoplasia

The Thumb Grasp and Pinch (T-GAP) assessment quantifies functional hand use in children with congenital thumb hypoplasia by categorizing grasp and thumb use patterns during assessment activities that encourage a variety of grasp and pinch styles. This study aims to demonstrate interrater and intrarater reliability results of the T-GAP. A retrospective review was performed of children who had undergone index finger pollicization for congenital thumb hypoplasia and subsequent evaluation with videotaping of the T-GAP assessment. Following a training period, 4 occupational therapists scored 11 T-GAP videos on 2 separate occasions, separated by at least 2 weeks. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), standard error of measurements, minimum detectable change (MDC), and Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated. The T-GAP raw scores were 16 to 55, demonstrating a range of mild to severe hand grasp differences. The ICCs for the interrater reliability trials were 0.887 and 0.901. Intrarater ICCs were all above 0.88. The MDC for each trial was 8.1 and 6.7 points. Pearson correlation coefficients calculated for each rater and each pair of raters were above 0.8 in all cases. Interrater and intrarater reliability testing results for the T-GAP were excellent in all cases; this strongly suggests that results from T-GAP assessments are reliable. The high ICCs suggest that raters can classify and score children's hand function consistently. This study, in conjunction with previous work, suggests that the T-GAP may be an ideal approach to assessing the outcomes of pollicization and provide a means of ongoing assessment of children's grip and pinch function.

Planning an Action: A Developmental Progression in Tool Use

How children pick up a tool reveals their ability to plan an action with the end goal in mind. When presented with a spoon whose handle points away from their dominant hand, children between infancy and 8 years of age progress from using an awkward ulnar grip that causes food to spill from the spoon to consistently using a radial grip. At 4 years of age children's grip strategies are highly variable, including the awkward grips of infancy and use of the nondominant hand, but they also employ adultlike grips never seen in infancy. By 8 years of age the infantile ulnar grip has completely disappeared and is replaced by more mature and effective grips that indicate better planning for the end goal.

Associations between grip strength of parents and their 4‐year‐old children: findings from the Southampton Women's Survey

Relationships between birthweight and grip strength throughout the life course suggest that early influences on the growth and development of muscle are important for long-term muscle function. However, little is known about parental influences on children's grip strength. We have explored this in the Southampton Women's Survey, a prospective general population cohort study from before conception through childhood. Grip strength was measured using a Jamar handgrip dynamometer in the mother at 19 weeks' gestation and her partner, and in the child at age 4 years. Pre-pregnancy heights and weights were measured in the mothers; reported weights and measured heights were available for the fathers. Complete data on parents and children were available for 444 trios. In univariable analyses, both parents' grip strengths were significantly associated with that of the child (r = 0.17, P < 0.001 for mothers; r = 0.15, P = 0.002 for fathers). These correlations were similar to that between the grip strength of the mothers and the fathers (r = 0.17, P < 0.001). In the multivariable model, after adjustment for child's height and physical activity, the correlations with the child's grip strength were attenuated, being 0.10 (P = 0.02) and 0.11 (P = 0.01) for mothers' and fathers' grip strength respectively. The findings show that grip strength of each parent is associated with that of the child, indicating that heritable influences and the shared family environment influence the development of muscle strength. This contributes to our understanding of the role of heritable and environmental factors on early muscle growth and development, which are important for muscle function across the life course.

A Pilot Study: Coordination of Precision Grip in Children and Adolescents with High Functioning Autism

This pilot study compared temporal coordination during a precision grip task between 13 children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) who were high functioning and 13 peers with typical development. Temporal coordination between grip and load forces was measured using latency between onset of grip and load forces, grip force at onset of load force, peak grip force (PGF), and time to PGF. Compared with peers with typical development, participants with ASD demonstrated prolonged latency between grip and load forces, elevated grip force at onset of load force, and increased movement variability. PGF and time to PGF were not significantly different between the 2 groups. These findings indicate temporal dyscoordination in participants with ASD. The findings also enhance our understanding of motor coordination deficits in persons with ASD and have theoretical as well as clinical implications.

A Pilot Study: Coordination of Precision Grip in Children and Adolescents with High Functioning Autism

A Pilot Study: Coordination of Precision Grip in Children and Adolescents with High Functioning Autism

Task constraints on preschool children's grip configurations during drawing

Traditional accounts of motor development have described the development of grip configurations in terms of a global maturational change from immature to mature grips. We present data that demonstrate that the grip configurations of preschool-aged children are greatly influenced by task demands and are more variable than previous research has suggested. Grip configurations were most variable during free drawing. Three- to 4-year-olds with highly variable grips produced poorer quality drawings in a shape copying task than children with relatively stable grips. It is argued that the study of the development of drawing skills may best be captured by an approach which emphasizes the role of task requirements and various external and internal constraints which shape variability in grip configurations.

Recovery of the precision grip in children after traumatic brain injury

Gölge M, Müller M, Dreesmann M, Hoppe B, Wenzelburger R, Kuhtz-Buschbeck JP. Recovery of the precision grip in children after traumatic brain injury. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2004;85:1435-44. Objective: To identify quantitative parameters that are sensitive enough to detect impairments and improvements of grasping in children after traumatic brain injury (TBI) by analyzing the isometric fingertip forces of a precision grip-lift task. Design: Follow-up and case-control study. Setting: Tertiary pediatric trauma rehabilitation center in Germany. Participants: Thirteen children (age range, 5–14y) with moderate or severe TBI. Trauma severity was assessed with the Glasgow Coma Scale (score range, 3–9) and the Injury Severity Score (range, 16–66 points). Control data were obtained from 13 age- and gender-matched healthy children. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Children were examined 3 times (t0, t1, t2). The first date of examination (t0) was defined by the Barthel Index (part B, >20 points). Reexaminations followed after 1 (t1) and 5 (t2) months of inpatient rehabilitation. Quantitative measures included 3 grip-force parameters, 2 load force parameters, 1 parameter of the coordination between grip force and load force, and 3 timing parameters in a precision grip-lift task. Clinical improvements and recovery of activities of daily living were described with the Barthel Index (qualitative measure). Results: Peak grip force, maximum negative load force, grip force in the static phase and its standard deviation, and grip-force/load-force ratio at maximum grip force showed significant improvements during the observation period (5mo). Also, the preparation phase and preload duration, but not the load duration, changed significantly. Conclusions: Impairments and the recovery of grasping in children after TBI can be objectified with quantitative analyses of the precision grip. Several grip-force and timing parameters were sensitive for the description of restitution processes.

Do children of long-lived parents age more successfully?

Long-lived individuals are rare and may be selected in part for the genetic factors that promote successful aging. The children of long-lived parents may therefore age more successfully than the children of short-lived parents. We used three major cross-sectional population-based surveys to study the association of parental longevity with successful aging in offspring. The measures of aging were hand-grip strength, cognitive performance (Mini Mental State Examination and a cognitive composite score), self-reported diseases, and self-rated health. For every additional 10 years the parents lived, their children's grip strength increased by 0.32 kg (95% CI = 0.00-0.63), Mini Mental State Examination score by 0.20 points (95% CI = 0.03-0.37), and cognitive composite score by 0.24 points (95% CI = 0.07-0.40). A 10-year increment of parental life was associated with a reduction by approximately 0.20 in the adjusted odds ratio for their children having each of the following conditions: diabetes; hypertension; ischemic heart disease; heart failure; stroke; or fair, poor, or very poor self-rated health. Almost all the effects were seen solely in the cohort of 70+-year-olds, but not among middle-aged or nonagenarian subjects. Parental life span is positively associated with the children's physical and cognitive functioning and avoidance of some of the common chronic diseases. However, the effects are small and are seen among offspring who are elderly, but not among the middle-aged or the oldest old.

Development of Pencil Grip Position in Preschool Children

Pencil grip is an aspect of handwriting that has been addressed by occupational therapists who treat children with handwriting difficulties. However, there has been little research investigating the developmental progression of pencil grip in Taiwanese children. Without knowledge of normal development, therapists cannot justify a diagnosis of “unusual” or “bizarre” pencil grips. This study was designed to investigate the developmental progression in pencil grips in Taiwanese children. The subjects were 326 children aged 2.5 to 6.4 years. The type of grips each child used to perform a drawing task was videotaped. A developmental assessment of pencil grips compiled by Schneck and Henderson was used to rate children's grip positions. A developmental pregression was noted and 14 grip patterns were identified. About half of the 3- to 3.4-year old children were able to employ a mature grip when drawing in a 7.89 cm x7 cm box. By the age of 4, about three fourths of the children were able to use mature grips to draw. For children aged 5 years and older, the percentage increased to more than 90%. Comparison of the results with those of Schneck and Henderson (1990) suggests that Taiwanese children 3.5 to 5.9 years of age are more advanced than American children of the same age. In addition, the percentage of Taiwanese children using the lateral tripod is much higher than that of American children. Possible reasons for these differences are proposed. Implications for occupational therapy and suggestions for future studies are discussed.

TACTILE CONTROL OF ISOMETRIC FINGERTIP FORCES DURING GRASPING IN CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY

Sensory mechanisms and sensorimotor integration have often been thought to be disturbed in children with cerebral palsy (CP). The authors investigated the influence of tactile information from the fingertips on the isometric force regulation during the lift of a small object with the precision grip in children with CP and controls. Children with CP were able to modify their grip force according to friction between the fingertips and the object and could use tactile information for anticipatory control of the force-scaling of the precision grip, but they seemed to need predictable conditions and successive lifts to build up memory representation of an object's friction.

RERC on Technology for Children with Orthopedic Disabilities

The Rt.'RC on Technology for Children with Orthopedic Disabilities is located on the grounds of the Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center, Downey, CA. Funding was initiated in November 1990, and there are currently nine active projects. Accomplishments and expected outcomes of these projects are highlighted, and four of the projects are described in greater detail. These four have to do with improving grip in children:~ terminal devices, determining cognitive readiness of young children for powered mobility, mainstreaming children who are nonverbal into regular education, and documenting when it is appropriate to prescribe integrated controllers for wheelchairs and other powered equipment.

Joint Position Changes in the Dynamic Tripod Grip in Children Aged Three to Seven Years

The refinement of the dynamic tripod grip in children aged 3 to 7 years was described by noting joint position changes in the forearm and in the proxilmal interphalangeal joint (PIP) and the distal interphalangeal joint (DIP) of the index finger. The results showed no significant differences in PIP joint position between younger and older children. Younger children showed little difference in preference for a flexed or hyperextended position of the DIP joint of the index finger, whereas, older children assumed a hyperextended position of the DIP. Analysis revealed significant differences between younger and older girls on DIP and forearm position, but not between younger and older boys. These variations should be kept in mind when evaluating grip posture.

Joint Position Changes in the Dynamic Tripod Grip in Children Aged Three to Seven Years

The refinement of the dynamic tripod grip in children aged 3 to 7 years was described by noting joint position changes in the forearm and in the proxilmal interphalangeal joint (PIP) and the distal interphalangeal joint (DIP) of the index finger. The results showed no significant differences in PIP joint position between younger and older children. Younger children showed little difference in preference for a flexed or hyperextended position of the DIP joint of the index finger, whereas, older children assumed a hyperextended position of the DIP. Analysis revealed significant differences between younger and older girls on DIP and forearm position, but not between younger and older boys. These variations should be kept in mind when evaluating grip posture.