The Association Between Hand Grip Strength and Hand Span of Dominant and Non-dominant Hand of Undergraduate Physiotherapy Students

Introduction: Health-related physical fitness requires muscular strength to perform physical activities. The handgrip test is used to assess the muscular strength of the hand. The flexor muscle strength in palmar, thenar, and hypothenar areas of the hand collectively form the Handgrip Strength (HGS). However, the extensor mechanism, including the intrinsic musculature, plays a minor role in producing handgrip strength. Also, each finger plays an essential role in handgrip strength. This study aims to identify the association between the handgrip strength and the handspan of the dominant and non-dominant hands of undergraduate physical therapy students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on undergraduate physical therapy students. Different public and private physical therapy schools and universities in Karachi City, Pakistan were chosen to collect the data with an estimated sample size of 100 undergraduate physical therapy students. The sampling was done by the non-probability convenient sampling method. The inclusion criteria were undergraduate physiotherapy students (from both genders) and willing to participate in the study. Results: The Pearson test was used to determine the significant correlation between handgrip strength and handspan. The results showed the mean and standard deviation of handgrip strength (dominant hand) was 25.96±11.538, of handgrip strength in Kg (non-dominant hand) was 24.93±12.336, and of handspan length in Cm of the dominant hand was 20.2910±1.78671. The present study showed a positive association between handgrip strength and handspan. The handgrip strength of the non-dominant hand was higher than the dominant handgrip strength values. Handspan was also higher in the non-dominant hand compared with the dominant hand, but this difference is not significant. Conclusion: The handgrip strength of physical therapy students had a positive association with the handspan. The handspan and dominant hand influence handgrip strength.