Relationship between demographic characteristics and hand grip measurement of students in UTMKL

Abstract

Biomechanical motion analysis is concerned with the investigation of movement of a subject. In particular, this project is interested in the movement found in nature, in biological systems such as human pinch and human grip. The motion is to be investigated with a view of analyzing the mechanical aspects of it, such as grip rate and force values in Newton and kilograms using a Digital Pinch/Grip Analyser. The hand grip strength (HGS) is an important test used to measure deficiency in hand muscle power, assessment of surgical treatments and rehabilitation evaluation. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between demographic characteristics on HGS of UTMKL students. Besides, this study also observes the relation of some anthropometric variables such as weight, height, body mass index (BMI) and hand circumferences with the HGS. Overall, 30 participants participated in this study. Data were collected for demographic variables, medical history, and lifestyle behavior. Maximum dominant hand grip strength (DHGS) in male was at the age of 23 (mean= 276.446N) and 26 years (mean=276.1N) and for female in age 22 (mean=166.1778N). The mean difference in DHGS between both genders was statistically significant (p<0.05). The mean difference in DHGS between each side was statistically significant (p<0.05) in the right-hand dominant group, but not in the left-hand dominant group. The dominant hand is stronger than the non- dominant. Right-hand dominance is stronger than left-hand dominance. Besides, DHGS differed significantly across ethnicity and residential area. The DHGS also has positive correlations with age and height in male and with all measurements (age, height, weight, BMI, hand circumferences) for female. Our study has shown the relationship between HGS with demographic and anthropometric data.