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14th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT)

17.06. - 21.06.2019, Berlin

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Hand function, participation and quality of life among people with hand conditions

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  • presenting/speaker Avigayil Horwitz - Barzilai Medical Center, Ashkelon, Israel
  • Adina Maeir - School of Occupational Therapy, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
  • Hanna Melchior - Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
  • Danit Langer - School of Occupational Therapy, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand. International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy. 14th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT). Berlin, 17.-21.06.2019. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2020. DocIFSHT19-1129

doi: 10.3205/19ifssh1502, urn:nbn:de:0183-19ifssh15026

Published: February 6, 2020

© 2020 Horwitz et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Outline

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Objective: A survey of the literature shows that most of the research in hand therapy relates to a remedial model. This study attempted to describe a range of hand conditions (HC) in terms of quality of life (QOL), disability, and hand function.

Materials and Methods: Participant were recruited from two hand clinics.The research group was matched with healthy participants. Assessments were administered to participants in their first visit to the hand clinic. Healthy participants were administered the same assessment protocol. QOL was measured with the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire; disability with the Disabilities of the Arm Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire; pain with the Patient-Rated Wrist/Hand Evaluation; hand function with: The Functional Dexterity Test, Jamar Dynamo-meter and Pinch Gauge.

Results: Seventy-seven patients with chronic and acute hand conditions (HC) agreed to participate in the study (Mean age=43.70 SD=17.56; 47 males and 30 females). The study group reported significantly (p<.05) lower perceived QOL, higher levels of disability, reduced hand strength and dexterity than the control group. A hierarchical step-wise analysis was used to calculate the explanatory power of the personal factors (age and gender), hand function (strength and dexterity) and pain on disability and QOL. Personal factors, hand function and pain together explained 28.9% of the variance in QOL (Overall F= 12.368, p=.010), only pain significantly contributed to the R-square change (20.6%). Regarding disability, personal factors, hand function and pain together explained 61.4% of the variance in disability (Overall F= 37, p=.001). Both the hand function and pain significantly contributed to the R-square change.

Conclusions: A bio psycho-social approach should be implemented in to hand therapy practice. Pain appears to have a large impact on QOL and disability and should be comprehensively addressed when treating HC.