Hand grip strength in relation to bone mineral density and hand functions in preschool children / Noha Abdelkader Abdelkader Hassan ; Supervised Hoda Abdelazem Eltalawy , Shorouk Ahmed Wagdi Alshenawy , Rokia Abdelsahfy Soliman Elbanna

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Physical Therapy - Department of Growth and Development Disorers in Pediatrics

Background: Hand grip strength is one of the best indicators of the overall strength of the upper limb and it is evaluated as a component of hand function. Assessment of bone health in children is important to identify future risk. Purpose: To investigate correlation between hand grip strength with both bone mineral density and hand functions in preschool children. Subjects: Sixty normal preschool children (32 boys and 28 girls), aged from 4 to 6 years old were participated in this study. Methods: Each child was evaluated individually by using Peabody Developmental Motor Scale (PDMS-2) to determine standard scores of visualmotor integration subtest and age equivalent for fine motor activities and Baseline pneumatic squeeze handheld dynamometer to detect maximum hand grip strength, Bone mineral density was assessed by DEXA at National Research Center for all children Results: There was statistically significant correlation between hand grip strength with bone mineral density (r=0.367, p=0.004) and between hand grip strength and hand functions (r=0.756, p=0.0001) in preschool children. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated that there was a positive correlation between hand grip strength with both bone mineral density and hand functions in preschool children. Thus, hand grip strength could be used as a predictor for bone density and hand skill in preschool children

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