Motor performance of the hand in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

doi:10.1136/ard.59.10.812

Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2000;59:812-816; doi:10.1136/ard.59.10.812

Ann Rheum Dis 2000;59:812-816 ( October )

Extended report

Motor performance of the hand in patients with rheumatoid arthritis Kari Kauranen^a, Pekka Vuotikka^b, Markku Hakala^b

^a Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Oulu University Central Hospital, Oulu, Finland, ^b Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Oulu University Central Hospital

Correspondence to: Dr Kari Kauranen, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Oulu University Central Hospital, Kajaanintie 50, 90220 Oulu, Finland Email: kari.kauranen{at}ppshp.fi

Accepted for publication 21 March 2000

OBJECTIVES $---$ To examine the motor performance of the hand in a sample of patients with rheumatoid arthritis(RA).
SUBJECTS $---$ The patient group comprised 21 (two men, 19 women) patients with RA. Twenty one control subjects matched for age and sex wereselected from a larger reference group, which had been drawn fromthe localpopulation.
METHODS $---$ The measured motor performance aspects were simple reaction time, choice reaction time, speed of movement, finger tappingspeed, and coordination (that is, speed of movement/accuracy).Results were compared for age and sex matched pairs. The measurementswere made with the Human Performance Measurement/Basic Elementsof Performance system, which is a multifunctional system designedto measure different motor aspects of the hands, including reactiontime, movement speed, tapping speed, andcoordination.
RESULTS $---$ A comparison of the results for the patient and control groups indicated that the motor functions of patients with RA wereimpaired in all the measured aspects (with the exception of theindex finger tapping test). The difference between the groupsvaried between 11% and 21% for the reaction time tasks, between12% and 18% for the speed of movement tasks, and between 15% and17% for the coordinationtask.
CONCLUSION $---$ Based on the results of our research, it seems that RA decreases some motor performance functions of the hand expressed assimple reaction time, choice reaction time, speed of movement,and coordination. The changes were emphasised in movements performedwith severaljoints.

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