The significance of assessing finger motor function in community dwelling elderly people

概要

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This study examined relationships between the finger motor function and physical and cognitive functions of community dwelling elderly people by gender. The subjects were 205 female and 52 male elderly (The mean age±SD was 73.5±6.3). The Purdue Pegboard Test was used to evaluate the finger motor function. This study also measured the hand grip strength, quadriceps strength, abdominal strength, sit-and reach flexibility, one-leg standing time, fastest walking speed, and 6-minute walking distance. The mini-mental state examination (MMSE) was used to determine cognitive functioning. As the results, female subjects showed significantly higher scores for the finger motor function and sit-and reach flexibility than male subjects. The results of multiple regression analysis using the finger motor function as a dependent variable showed a significant partial correlation in the 6-minute walking distance, one-leg standing time, and MMSE in female subjects, and abdominal strength and fastest walking speed in male subjects, suggesting that factors affecting the finger motor function differ between male and female elderly.