STUDY DESIGN Randomized Clinical Trial. INTRODUCTION Hand exercises have been recommended as treatment for hand osteoarthritis (OA) but research evidence is sparse. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY To investigate effects of daily 16-week home-based hand exercise among persons with hand OA. METHODS Forty-six older adults completed a crossover trial with washout between exercise and sham treatments. Th...

[Purpose] The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of repeated vibratory stimulation to muscles related to hand functions on dexterity, strength, and sensory function in patients with chronic stroke. [Subjects and Methods] A total of 10 stroke patients with hemiplegia participated in this study. They were divided into two groups: a) Experimental and b) Control, with five randomly se...

INTRODUCTION Dexterity is described as coordinated hand and finger movement for precision tasks. It is essential for day-to-day activities like computer use, writing or buttoning a shirt. Integrity of brain motor networks is crucial to properly execute these fine hand tasks. When these networks are damaged, interventions to enhance recovery are frequently accompanied by unwanted side effects or...

Background Trigger finger (TF) is a common hand pathology frequently encountered in hand clinics. Occupational therapists predominantly assess TF symptoms as opposed to using standardized hand functioning assessments. The purpose of this study was to assess the construct validity of dexterity and grip strength assessments for clients with TF. Method Sixty-three participants with TF and 66 hea...

Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the possible effects of laterality and handedness on higher-order sensory functions and manual dexterity of the elderly. Methods: In this non-experimental cross-sectional study, 58 elderly people aged 60-75 years (35 right-handed) were recruited through a convenience sampling method. Laterality of the selected subjects was examined using the E...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in task performance, grip and pinch strength, and dexterity with and without cock-up splints, which are widely used in occupational therapy practice. [Methods] Twenty-three participants performed Jebsen-Taylor hand function test and grooved pegboard for task performance and dexterity. The power grip and pinch strength was mea...

BACKGROUND After stroke, deregulated interhemispheric interactions influence residual paretic hand function. Anodal or cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can rebalance these abnormal interhemispheric interactions and improve motor function. OBJECTIVE We explored whether dual-hemisphere tDCS (dual-tDCS) in participants with chronic stroke can improve fine hand motor functi...