The Relationships Between Wrist Joint Position Sense, Anthropometric Characteristics and Grip Strength of the Hand in Healthy Individuals

Objective: The hand is an extremely unique structure with its own characteristics that should be better understood. To determine the relationship between joint position sense (JPS), hand anthropometrics, and grip strength (GS) in healthy individuals. Methods: Both hands of 50 healthy adults were evaluated. The anthropometric characteristics (AC) were determined using small paper insertion tape. Hand and finger strength were measured using hand dynamometry and a pinchometer, respectively. The wrist JPS was evaluated for wrist flexion, extension, and deviations via a position error test using a goniometer. Results: AC and GS were positively correlated with both the dominant and non-dominant sides in all parameters (p<0.05). There was a significant positive relationship between palmar GS and wrist flexion JPS error on the dominant side (p=0.039, r=0.292) and on the non-dominant side (p=0.033, r=-0.303). There was no significant relationship between JPS and the AC of any other GS parameters (p>0.05). Conclusion: The use of anthropometric data in calculating GS, as well as other complimentary data, can be utilized to determine the type and diversity of exercise for physiotherapy and rehabilitation program organization. The results showed a weak correlation between wrist JPS, AC, and GS. In conclusion, our study showed that AC can be used as an indicator of GS, but GS alone is insufficient to indicate joint position.