Impact of hand osteoarthritis in women on maximal forces in six different grasp types

This work aims to: (1) Provide maximal hand force data on six different grasp types for healthy subjects; (2) detect grasp types with maximal force significantly affected by hand osteoarthritis (HOA) in women; (3) look for predictors to detect HOA from the maximal forces using discriminant analyses. Thirty-three healthy subjects (37 ± 17 years, 17 women, 16 men) and 30 HOA patients (72 ± 9 years, all women) participated in the experiment. Participants were asked to exert their maximal force while performing six different grasp types 3 times. Two MANOVAs were conducted to detect if force depended on gender in healthy participants and if force significantly diminished in women with HOA. Finally, a linear discriminant analysis for detecting HOA was performed using forces of the grasp types that were significantly affected by HOA. Gender-disaggregated statistics are provided for healthy participants. Significant differences are obtained for all grasp types per gender. The women with HOA exerted significantly lower force values (p < 0.001) for all the grasp types than healthy ones. The discriminant analysis revealed that oblique grasp was the most significant one for detecting HOA. A discrimination equation was obtained with a specificity of 88.2% and a sensitivity of 83.3%. This work provides grip force data on six grasp types for healthy participants and for women with HOA. HOA women present reduced strength in all grasps due to pathology. Three of these grasps are a novelty. Oblique grasp strength may suffice to discriminate a patient with HOA, which might help non-invasive HOA detection.