Background

It has been dogma that handedness greatly impacts daily activities. Interruptions in the ability to utilize the dominant arm due to neuromusculoskeletal injuries could negatively impact performance of activities of daily living. Daily activity can be measured using activity monitors. This study aimed to examine how arm dominance impacts function by immobilizing the arms of healthy individuals.

Methods

Ten individuals wore four upper extremity activity monitors for three days—one day without immobilization, one day with their dominant arm immobilized, and one day with their non-dominant arm immobilized. Triaxial acceleration data was used to calculate average daily activity and an asymmetry index. Between-condition differences were examined.

Findings

During dominant arm immobilization, the dominant forearm had significantly less average daily activity when compared to the no immobilization day (p = .0001) and the non-dominant immobilized day (p < .0001). A similar trend was observed at the non-dominant forearm when the non-dominant arm was immobilized. Immobilization of an arm increased asymmetry index and reliance on the non-immobilized arm. Significant differences in asymmetry index were not observed between the two casted conditions.

Interpretation

When an upper extremity was casted, immobilized forearm and upper arm average daily activity was comparable. Dominance did not have an effect on asymmetry index. Immobilization affected asymmetry index compared to no immobilization. This study has demonstrated that regardless of arm immobilized, there will be a reliance on the contralateral limb about twice as much as the immobilized limb. This could prove problematic if the contralateral limb is restricted or injured, limiting independent.

中文翻译：

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肘部固定对上肢活动的影响。

背景

惯用惯用手极大地影响日常活动一直是教条。由于神经肌肉骨骼损伤而导致使用优势手臂的能力中断可能会对日常生活活动的表现产生负面影响。可以使用活动监视器测量日常活动。本研究旨在通过固定健康人的手臂来检查手臂优势如何影响功能。

方法

十个人戴着四个上肢活动监测器三天——一天没有固定，一天固定他们的优势手臂，一天固定他们的非优势手臂。三轴加速度数据用于计算平均每日活动和不对称指数。检查了条件间差异。

发现

在优势臂固定期间，优势前臂的平均日常活动明显低于无固定日 ( p  = .0001) 和非优势固定日 ( p  < .0001)。当非优势手臂固定时，在非优势前臂上观察到类似的趋势。手臂的固定增加了不对称指数和对非固定手臂的依赖。在两种铸造条件之间未观察到不对称指数的显着差异。

解释

当上肢被铸造时，固定的前臂和上臂的平均每日活动是可比的。优势对不对称指数没有影响。与没有固定相比，固定影响了不对称指数。这项研究表明，无论手臂如何固定，对侧肢体的依赖程度约为固定肢体的两倍。如果对侧肢体受到限制或受伤，限制独立，这可能会证明是有问题的。