Abstract

AGTUAHENE, Mercy A.; QUARTEY, Jonathan  and  KWAKYE, Samuel. Influence of hand dominance, gender, and body mass index on hand grip strength. SAJPHYS [online]. 2023, vol.79, n.1, pp.1-6. ISSN 2410-8219.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajp.v79i1.1923.

BACKGROUND: Hand grip strength (HGS) measurements serve as an objective measure of upper extremity function. Reliable hand strength evaluation is vital for assessing treatment effectiveness. OBJECTIVES: To determine the influence of hand dominance, gender, and body mass index (BMI) on HGS among university students in Ghana. METHOD: In our cross-sectional study of 304 participants, height, weight, and BMI were measured using a stadiometer and weighing scale. Hand grip strength was assessed with a dynamometer. We compared HGS in dominant and non-dominant hands for males and females using a paired t-test and analysed the correlation between grip strength and weight, height, and BMI using Pearson's correlation coefficient. RESULTS: The mean HGS for right-hand dominant (RHD) male participants was 35.62 kg (± 7.36) for the right hand compared with 32.84 kg (± 7.36) for the left hand. For females RHD the mean HGS in the right hand was 24.60 kg (± 6.42) compared to 22.12 kg (± 5.37) in the left hand. The mean weight, height and BMI of participants were 62.86 kg (± 10.30), 1.67 m (± 0.09) and 22.9 kg/m² (± 4.9), respectively. A significant relationship existed between HGS and height (r = 0.492; p < 0.01) as well as HGS and BMI (r = 0.290; p < 0.01). However, no notable connection was found between HGS and weight (r = 0.001; p = 0.982). CONCLUSION: Hand grip strength was significantly stronger in the dominant hand of both males and females. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Physiotherapists should test HGS objectively and quantitatively for use in disease evaluation, diagnosis, and therapy.

Keywords : hand grip strength; hand dominance; body mass index; dynamometer; non-dominant hand.

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