title: Muscle activation during hand dexterity tasks in women with hand osteoarthritis and control subjects.
abstract: METHODS
  Descriptive cross-sectional study.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Hand osteoarthritis (OA) is a condition that results in hand pain and disability. It is important to understand how muscle function impairments contribute to impaired dexterity.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare muscle activation in women with and without hand OA and determine if the activation relates to measures of impairment and disability.
  
  
  METHODS
  Electromyography (EMG) was recorded from four muscles of the hand/forearm while subjects threaded (assembly) and unthreaded (disassembly) a small bolt. The groups were compared on the integrated EMG (IEMG) of four muscles using two-way repeated-measures analyses of covariance for the assembly and disassembly tasks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No differences were found in muscle activation between groups when IEMG values were normalized by time (p>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with OA have some indicators of altered muscle function. It is unclear whether these are adaptive or predisposing changes. When controlling for the time to perform a task, there were no significant IEMG differences between women with hand OA and control subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  2b.
authors.affiliation: MacHANd Laboratory, School of Rehabilitation Science, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Kristina M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Calder
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Galea
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wessel
authors.forename: Joy C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: MacDermid
authors.forename: Norma J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: MacIntyre
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D050823:Hand Joints / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance