Manual dexterity among older adults with and without sarcopenia

TL;DR

This study finds that older adults with sarcopenia have significantly worse manual dexterity compared to those without sarcopenia.

Contribution

The study provides new evidence on the impact of sarcopenia on manual dexterity in long-term care residents.

Findings

Sarcopenic participants scored significantly lower on the Purdue Pegboard Test than non-sarcopenic participants.

Manual dexterity declined by 12% to 33.9% in sarcopenic individuals across dexterity tasks.

Abstract

The impact of sarcopenia on Manual Dexterity (MD) among older adults residing in long-term care settings (LTCS) is understudied. Hence, the objective is to compare MD using the Purdue Pegboard Test (PPT) among older adults with and without sarcopenia.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in seven LTCS, and older adults were selected per the criteria decided a priori. Sarcopenia was evaluated through muscle mass, muscle strength, and physical performance using the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) 2019 criteria, and MD was assessed using PPT.

Ninety-six older adults were included, with 83 identified as sarcopenic and 13 as non-sarcopenic. Sarcopenic participants exhibited significantly lower scores in PPT, ranging from 1.34 to 4.00 s across various sub-tasks, compared to non-sarcopenic participants.

Sarcopenia significantly affects MD, with a decline of 12% to 33.9% in various dexterity tasks.

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