title: Analyzing finger interdependencies during the Purdue Pegboard Test and comparative activities of daily living.
abstract: METHODS
  Bench and cross-sectional study.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Information obtained from dexterity tests is an important component of a comprehensive examination of the hand.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To analyze and compare finger interdependencies during the performance of the Purdue Pegboard Test (PBT) and comparative daily tasks.
  
  
  METHODS
  A method based on the optoelectronic kinematic analysis of the precision grip style and on the calculation of cross-correlation coefficients between relevant joint angles, which provided measures of the degree of finger coordination, was conducted on 10 healthy participants performing the PBT and 2 comparative daily living tasks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Daily tasks showed identifiable interdependencies patterns between the metacarpophalangeal joints of the fingers involved in the grip. Tasks related to activities of daily living resulted in significantly higher cross-correlation coefficients across subjects and movements during the formation and manipulation phases of the tasks (0.7-0.9), whereas the release stage produced significantly lower movement correlation values (0.3-0.7). Contrarily, the formation and manipulation stages of the PBT showed low finger correlation across most subjects (0.2-0.6), whereas the release stage resulted in the highest values for all relevant movements (0.65-0.9).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Interdependencies patterns were consistent for the activities of daily living but differ from the patterns observed from the PBT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PBT does not compare well with the whole range of finger movements that account for hand performance during daily tasks.
  
  
  METHODS
  Not applicable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Insigneo Institute for In Silico Medicine, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom. Electronic address: v.gonzalez@sheffield.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Insigneo Institute for In Silico Medicine, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rowson
authors.affiliation: Art and Design Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alaster
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yoxall
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D052581:Pinch Strength / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Dexterity; Finger coordination; Functional outcome; Hand function