Quantitative evaluation of handwriting: factors that affect pen operating skills.
Sho Horie, Katsuyuki Shibata
PMID 30154583WHAT IT FOUND
Tracing accuracy depends on pen pressure variability, not just force or speed.
Pressing harder increased wrist angles and reduced accuracy, while writing faster also reduced accuracy. For therapists, measuring how much pen pressure fluctuates may be more useful than total force when assessing handwriting control.
Key findings
01Writing with a 'strong' pressure instruction resulted in significantly smaller area of overlap (lower accuracy) compared to a 'weak' instruction, despite higher pen and surface pressure.
02Writing at a 'fast' speed resulted in significantly smaller area of overlap (lower accuracy) compared to a 'careful' (slow) speed, confirming a trade-off between speed and accuracy.
03Multiple regression analysis identified the degree of variation in pen pressure as a significant factor influencing pen operating skills (accuracy) in both strong and careful conditions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only healthy young adults, so findings may not apply to children or individuals with motor disorders. The age range was narrow (mean 21.3 years). Only graphical tracing tasks were used, not actual word writing. Electromyography and pen grip pressure were not measured. The sample size was small (n=35).
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that increasing writing pressure or speed improves control. The study found that 'strong' and 'fast' conditions were associated with reduced accuracy. Additionally, these findings are from healthy young adults and should not be directly applied to patients with motor impairments without further assessment.