Evaluating Hand Strength Measures

Grip and pinch strength of the dominant hand will be assessed at baseline, week 5, week 8, and week 16. A series of tests including grip, palmar (three-jaw chuck) pinch, key (lateral) pinch, and tip (two-point) pinch have been demonstrated highly reliable for evaluating hand strength [37 ]. Hand grip strength will be quantified in kilograms by measuring the amount of static force a participant can squeeze around the hand dynamometer (KYTO 2324, Kangdu Electronic Manufacture Co. Ltd, Dongguan, China). Pinch strength will be measured using a Jamar digital pinch gauge (Allegro Medical, Illinois, USA), which will be placed between the radial side of index finger and thumb, between the pulp of the thumb and the index and middle fingers, and between the tip of the thumb and the index finger, respectively, to perform 3 different pinch tests. Participants are supposed to stand with their shoulders slightly adducted and neutrally rotated, and their elbows slightly extended for each of the 4 tests [38 (link)]. The mean of three trials (with intervals of at least 30 s) for each test will be calculated and documented as final score.