Impact of Tactile Sensation on Dexterity: A Cross-Sectional Study of Patients With Impaired Hand Function After Stroke

ABSTRACT

The authors sought to explore the impact of tactile sensation on manual dexterity and the validity of the strength-dexterity test in subjects with chronic impairments after stroke in a cross-sectional study of 24 patients with impaired hand function after stroke. Dexterity was assessed by the strength-dexterity test, Box and Blocks, and Nine-Hole Peg Test, and the ABILHAND questionnaire. Sensation was measured by pinprick, cotton-wool, graphesthesia, and 2-point discrimination tests. Sensation in the paretic hand had strong association with paretic hand performance in the strength-dexterity test and Nine-Hole Peg Test and explained 13% of the variance. Sensation in the nonparetic hand was associated with the results of the ABILHAND questionnaire. Among sensory tests, 2-point discrimination had the strongest association with dexterity tests. No significant correlations between sensation, pinch force, and dexterity tests were found for the nonparetic hand. The strength-dexterity test exhibited strong correlations with the other dexterity measures and with pinch force. There is an association between tactile sensation and dexterous performance in the paretic hand; activity level performance is associated with sensation in the nonparetic hand. The study supports the validity of the strength-dexterity test when applied in subjects in the chronic stage after stroke.

Keywords:

• dexterity
• pinch force
• stroke
• tactile sensation

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to Francisco Valero-Cuevas, who developed the strength-dexterity test, for providing the equipment. They would like to thank Amirah Khan for the help with data collection, Marina Pavlova for assistance with data processing, and Rita Almeida, Fredrik Johansson, and Leonid Padyukov for support with the statistical analyses.

Additional information

Funding

The study was funded by Stroke-Riksförbundet, grant 11722013.