Subjective Evaluation of the Manual Dexterity and Fingertip Movement Ability for Aging Workers

Abstract

Contribution Subjective Evaluation of the Manual Dexterity and Fingertip Movement Ability for Aging Workers, by Tadao MAKIZUKA & Masaharu KUMASHIRO. We measured the fingertip movement ability for 0 10, 10 20 and 20 30 sec. on the third digit of the right hand using a tapping tester with 351 non-office workers as subjects, mostly males aged 50 69. We also conducted interviews concerning the manual dexterity of the test subjects during their boyhood, and their middle-aged and older period, based on a self-assessment. There was a significant relation between tapping values and ages, but the correlation coefficient was not strong. This suggests the fingertip movement ability for non-office laborers 50 69 years old was not influenced by age. We conducted a cluster analysis of the tapping scores and extracted four clusters. As a result, four types ranging from groups with high scores to low scores were clearly identified. Further, an ANOVA was conducted for tapping scores by self-assessment, and there were significant scores for the 0 10 sec. range and the 10 20 sec. range p 0.05. This suggests that the manual dexterity level based on self-assessment can be estimated to some extent by the tapping score. Further, 48.7 of the subjects answered that manual dexterity based on self-assessment changed by middleto old age, and 84.8 of those answered that it declined.

Relation between Manual Dexterity and the Accuracy of Cavity Preparation

“…Leeway Sides and Manual Dexterity: Among the manual dexterity tasks adopted in this study, grip strength and pinch force are related to the function of flexor muscles; tapping uses both the flexor and extensor muscle groups [5][6][7] . Correlations between LB and many tapping items were demonstrated in this study, which suggests that both the force of the flexor muscles and the flexibility of the extensor muscles are necessary for turbine control during lateral preparation.…”

“…The vertical swing width was standardized to 25 mm with reference to a previous study 7) . When handling a dental air turbine, dentists adopt a posture similar to gripping a pen with three fingers, mainly the thumb and index and middle fingers, not a palm grip using all five fingers 8) .…”

“…Simodont®, a simulator for dental students, was developed in the Netherlands 7) . The technology allows training preparation and diagnosis in virtual space without requiring artificial teeth and has been used for student training even in countries other than the Netherlands 12) .…”