Article

OBJECTIVE: To examine transference of dexterity skills to the contralateral hand
after ipsilateral hand training, retention of skills at 1 mo,
and the influence
of hand dominance, sex, and age on interlimb transfer of these skills. DESIGN:
This is an interventional study involving 200 healthy adults in the age group of
20-30 yrs and >30 yrs, who were block randomized into experimental and control
groups. Experimental group was further subdivided into dominant and nondominant
hand training group and participants underwent 5 days unsupervised training on
tasks aimed at improving precision and dexterity. Jebsen-Taylor hand function
test was administered at baseline, postintervention, and 1-mo follow-up. Analysis
was done by nonparametric tests of comparison. RESULTS:
One hundred sixty-nine
subjects completed the study. Transfer effect was noted from the dominant to the
nondominant hand (P </= 0.001) and vice versa (P = 0.003) on the total test scores. This effect was retained at 1-mo follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Dexterity skills
are not consistently transferred to the contralateral hand after ipsilateral hand
training. However, transference of gross motor skills of hand function does occur
with retention effects up to 1 mo. Transfer of skills differs based on the hand
trained and age of the individual.

Langue : ANGLAIS