The effects of hand strength on upper extremity function and activities of daily living in stroke patients, with a focus on right hemiplegia.
DeokJu Kim
PMID 27799695WHAT IT FOUND
In stroke patients with right hemiplegia, grip strength correlated with both upper extremity function and daily living independence.
Pinch strength correlated with function but not with daily living tasks. Grip appears more critical for basic independence than finger pinch.
Key findings
01Grip strength showed a significant positive correlation with upper extremity function (r=0.7) and activities of daily living (r=0.3).
02Lateral pinch and three-point pinch strengths correlated with upper extremity function (r=0.7 and r=0.6) but showed no significant correlation with activities of daily living (r=0.1).
03Upper extremity function itself was only weakly correlated with activities of daily living (r=0.3).
STILL TO COME
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What it does not show
The study included only patients with right hemiplegia, so results may not apply to those with left hemiplegia or non-dominant hand involvement. Participants were limited to a single hospital in Seoul, restricting generalizability. The study design is correlational, so it cannot prove that improving grip strength causes better daily living independence. The correlation between upper extremity function and daily living independence was weak (r=0.3), suggesting other factors significantly influence basic self-care.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that improving pinch strength will enhance basic self-care independence. In this study, pinch strength correlated with upper extremity function but not with daily living activities, whereas grip strength correlated with both.