Measurement of Grip Strength in the Diagnosis of Wrist Pain

Grip strength was assessed in patients with chronic wrist pain and correlated with the results of subsequent bone scans and pathology. The results showed a highly significant decrease of grip strength in patients with positive bone scans or confirmed wrist pathology compared with those with negative bone scans (p less than 0.01). We conclude that the detection of weakness of grip is a simple indicator of true pathology in "obscure" wrist pain.