Normative Hand Strength Values for the Healthy Adult Trinbagonian Population and Comparison to International Data

Introduction: It has been well established that grip strength measurements can be useful as a benchmark for comparing the efficacy of different treatment modalities as well as an aid in the assessment of the progress of disease and rehabilitation. Grip strength has also been shown to be a representative marker for sociodemographic factors.

Methods: Participants were selected from five different regions in a cross-sectional manner from the streets of Trinidad and Tobago, and a Jamar hand dynamometer was used to assess the metrics of hand grip, palmar grip, tip pinch, and key pinch across both hands. Data was analyzed comparing right and left as well as dominant and non-dominant hands, and participants were classified by occupation.

Results: We enrolled 1233 participants in this study, of which the majority were female (54.5%). 90% of participants were right-hand dominant. The mean hand strength of the dominant hand was significantly greater than the non-dominant for all four strengths assessed. Participants of Afro-Trinbagonian descent were shown to have the highest mean values overall. We found no significant relationship between occupational intensity and mean grip strengths. For the male population, it was found that height, age, and BMI were all significant predictors of hand strength. This was notably only so for a minority of the female population tested.

Conclusion: This study serves to provide the normative data for the adult healthy Trinbagonian population. Further research to determine better predicative variables specific to the female population is needed.