Session Information
Date: Thursday, June 8, 2017
Session Title: Parkinson’s Disease: Clinical Trials, Pharmacology And Treatment
Session Time: 1:15pm-2:45pm
Location: Exhibit Hall C
Objective: To compare the hand functions between Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and healthy subjects using objective and subjective measures; and to establish the correlations among outcome measures.
Background: PD is a common neurodegenerative disease with cardinal symptoms of rigidity, tremor, and bradykinesia. These impairments lead to various degrees of functional limitations including deficits in finger dexterity and clumsiness in performing daily tasks. However only a few studies have reported this area and their sample size was small.
Methods: Eighty community-dwelling PD subjects and ninety healthy subjects were included to perform Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test (JHFT), purdue pegboard test, power grip strength test and Manual Ability Measure (MAM-16). JHFT and purdue pegboard test examined the gross and fine hand functional dexterity whilst MAM-16 evaluated subjects’ self-perceived ability to perform daily functions. Between-group differences were analyzed using independent t-tests and Mann-Whitney U tests. Association among outcome measures in each group was analyzed by Pearson’s r and Spearman’s rho test.
Results: Individuals with PD took significantly longer time than control group to complete the JHFT for both dominant and non-dominant hand (p<0.001) as well as JHFT subtests except writing and stacking checkers (all p<0.001). They also showed significantly lower scores for purdue pegboard test and MAM-16 than control subjects (p<0.001). When compared with control subjects, the power grip strength of PD individuals significantly reduced for the non-dominant hand (p=0.009) and marginally reduced for the dominant hand (p=0.093). In terms of association among outcome measures, both subject groups had a significant inverse relationship between JHFT total score and purdue pegboard score (PD: r= -0.54; p<0.001, control: r= -0.72; p<0.001).
Conclusions: PD patients have poorer fine hand skills, daily hand functions, hand grip strength, and self-perceived hand functional ability when compared to healthy subjects. Findings of the study point out the need of upper limb functional rehabilitation for PD patients.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
M. Mak, I. Wong. Comparison of hand functions between people with Parkinson’s disease and healthy subjects [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2017; 32 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/comparison-of-hand-functions-between-people-with-parkinsons-disease-and-healthy-subjects/. Accessed June 15, 2025.« Back to 2017 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/comparison-of-hand-functions-between-people-with-parkinsons-disease-and-healthy-subjects/