Effects of object size and distance on reaching kinematics in patients with schizophrenia.
Shu-Mei Wang, Li-Chieh Kuo, Wen-Chen Ouyang and 2 others
PMID 30186083WHAT IT FOUND
Patients with mild schizophrenia reached slower and less directly than healthy controls.
Larger objects made reaching faster and more forceful; farther objects made it slower but more direct. Occupational therapists may use object size and distance to grade reaching tasks.
Key findings
01Patients with mild schizophrenia had longer movement times and larger path length ratios than healthy controls.
02A larger object produced shorter movement time and higher peak velocity than a small object.
03A farther object produced longer movement time, higher peak velocity, and lower path length ratio than a near object.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study included only patients with mild schizophrenia who had no cognitive impairment or extrapyramidal motor symptoms, so it does not show what happens in more severe schizophrenia or in patients with movement side effects. The sample was small and recruited by convenience sampling, with 29 patients and 15 healthy controls, so the findings may not apply widely. The study measured a brief laboratory reaching task, not a treatment programme or daily-life function, so it does not demonstrate that graded reaching improves outcomes. Patients were clinically stable on antipsychotics, and the study did not examine different medications or long-term effects of movement training.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the object size and distance effects as evidence that graded reaching training improves function. The study measured a laboratory reaching task in patients with mild schizophrenia and did not test a treatment programme.