A Comparison of Dominant and Non-dominant Hand Function in both Right- and Left-Handed Individuals using the Southampton Hand Assessment Procedure (SHAP)

Abstract

There have been several studies investigating the difference in hand strength between the dominant and non-dominant hands (Petersen et al 1989, Crosby et al 1994, Armstrong and Oldham 1999, Amousun et al 1995). However, there is a lack of literature investigating hand function, which may be a more useful measure of daily hand use. Differences in dominant and non-dominant hand function are important, as clinically, bilateral functional comparison is recommended to the therapist (Boscheinen-Morrin et al 1992). This preliminary research study aimed to: • investigate the difference in grip manipulation between the dominant and non-dominant hands in a sample of 24 healthy participants using the Southampton Hand Assessment Procedure (SHAP) • explore the difference in use of the hands between right- and left-hand dominant individuals by means of a short questionnaire. The results demonstrated that right-handers preferred to use their dominant hand for all skilled activities whereas left-handers showed some preference for their non-dominant hand. Only the light tripod grip task for right-handers showed a statistically significant difference (p=0.009) between the speed of manipulation between dominant and non-dominant hands; all other light and heavy handgrips demonstrated no statistical difference. However, there was a general trend for the dominant hand to be faster in manipulating objects than the non-dominant hand in both right- and left-handed individuals.