Strength Data

for design safety - Phase 1

GOVERNMENT CONSUMER SAFETY RESEARCH

C o n t e n t s p a g e

SECTION 1
Introduction and background 1

SECTION 2
DATASHEETS 5
1. Finger push strength 5
2. Pinch-pull strength 9
3. Hand grip strength 13
4. Wrist-twisting strength 18
5. Opening strength 26
6. Push and pull strength 30

APPENDIX 1 - Finger push strength 37

APPENDIX 2 - Pinch-pull strength 40

APPENDIX 3 - Handgrip strength 43

APPENDIX 4 - Wrist twisting strength 46

APPENDIX 5 - Opening strength 51

APPENDIX 6 - Push and pull strength 54

APPENDIX 7 - Correlation between measurements 61

REFERENCES 69
SECTION 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

This report summarises the results of research conducted by Nottingham University on

behalf of the Consumer Affairs Directorate of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)
to provide designers with ergonomics data for use in the design of safer products.
The University of Nottingham has recently worked with DTI to produce a series of publications
containing ergonomics data. The three publications on children, adults and older adults
(‘Childata’, ‘Adultdata’ and ‘Older Adultdata’) contain the most up-to-date anthropometric
and physical strength data for countries around the world. However, their production has
highlighted important ‘gaps’ in the data available for direct use in product design.
This report describes a two stage research programme which was undertaken to try to
address some of these data ‘gaps’. Potential needs for design-applicable data were
identified and prioritised in Stage 1 of the project, and in Stage 2 new data were collected
to meet some of those needs.
The report consists of three main sections:
1. Introduction and background
2. Data sheets
3. Appendices
In Section 1 of the report, the two stages of the research are introduced and the
methodologies described. In Section 2, detailed descriptions and results of the data
collected as part of Stage 2 of the study are presented in the form of ‘data sheets’, and in
Section 3, the statistical analyses performed are presented as appendices.
The data sheets, detailed in section 2, show the new data for all age groups. For easier
reference these data have been colour coded by age to fit in with the age ranges in
CHILDATA, ADULTDATA and OLDER ADULTDATA. The colours used to highlight each
age range is that used for the background colour on the cover of each publication. For
example CHILDATA is white ( ), ADULTDATA is grey ( ) and OLDER
ADULTDATA is pink ( ).

Stage 1 – Identification and prioritisation of data ‘gaps’

To identify and prioritise the types of data most needed for design purposes, a survey of
users of ergonomics data was carried out. Around eight hundred and fifty designers,
manufacturers, ergonomists, consumer safety groups and product testing laboratories were
contacted by postal questionnaire. Respondents were asked to detail the sort of data or
information which they have needed for their own design purposes but have found difficult
to source. In total, eighty responses were received. Most responses requested a need for
physical strength data for all age groups: data which could be directly applied in the design

1
process. In addition, it was felt that data should describe generic functions, rather than be • wrist-twisting strength – torque (clockwise) using 1 hand on a series of six handles and
product-specific, so that it can be used in as many design applications as possible. Based controls
on these findings, a series of six realistic but generalisable strength measurements were • opening strength – torque (anti-clockwise) on a series of replica jars with smooth and
identified as summarising the most important data needs: knurled textured lids of various diameters.
1. finger push strength • push and pull strength – pushing and pulling with 1 and 2 hands on a cylindrical bar,
and pulling with 1 hand only on a convex knob.
2. pinch-pull strength
3. hand grip strength Procedure

4. wrist-twisting strength Subjects were asked to exert their maximum strength at all times, described as the highest
force he or she could exert without causing injury. Subjects were instructed to build up to
5. opening strength
their maximum strength in the first few seconds, and to maintain maximum strength for a
6. push and pull strength further few seconds. Where only one-handed strength was measured, subjects were
A programme of research was instigated and new data were collected in Stage 2 for all six ‘gaps’. instructed to use their dominant hand. Subjects performed two strength exertions (lasting
five seconds) for each experimental condition, and were given a two minute rest interval
between each exertion. Subjects stood during testing and were free to adopt their own
Stage 2 – Data collection methodology
posture. The testing device was adjusted and positioned at each subject's elbow height
Subjects (with the exception of opening strength and hand grip strength where the equipment was
To provide designers with a comparable set of design-applicable data for all age groups, freely moveable). Subjects were encouraged to exert maximal effort during testing and
children through to older adults were measured in the study. Around 150 British subjects were able to obtain visual feedback from the testing device.
aged between 2 and 86 years were measured for each of the six strength exertions. Subjects Equipment
were grouped into 5 or 10 year age bands, with around 15 individuals in each band,
Finger push strength, pinch-pull strength and wrist-twisting strength were measured on a
although this varied slightly between each measurement. Subject numbers are described
series of specially made handles which were attached to a Mecmesin™ Advanced Force
separately for each force measurement in the data sheets (Section 2). The anthropometric
Gauge (AFG 500N). Hand grip strength was measured using a Handgrip Dynamometer
details of the subjects are described in the corresponding appendices. Subjects were not
(MKIIIa) made by the Medical Physics Department, Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham,
selected to be representative of socio-economic criteria.
UK. Opening strength and push and pull strength were measured with the aid of strain
Measurements gauges which were attached to custom-made equipment.
Measurements were taken for a total of six different force exertions, and are summarised Results
below. Detailed descriptions of each measurement can be found in Section 2.
The results for each of the six measurements are presented in turn as separate ‘data sheets’.
• finger push strength – pushing with the pad of the thumb and index finger in a forwards Each measurement is defined, and the method of measurement, number of subjects
and downwards direction. measured, and the data collected are detailed. Data are presented separately for males and
• pinch-pull strength – pinching and pulling with 1 hand at three pinch distances. Two females and are also shown graphically. Differences in strength due to age and sex, as well
pinch types were tested: pulp pinch (pad of the thumb in opposition to pad of the index as differences between experimental conditions, were analysed by means of a t-test, and
finger) and chuck pinch (pad of the thumb in opposition to the pads of both the index these findings are presented in Appendices 1 to 6. A correlation coefficient matrix detailing
and middle fingers).
the relationship between all measurements can be found in Appendix 7.
• hand grip strength – 1 and 2 handed strength when gripping a series of three
rectangular handles of varying size.

2 3
 SECTION 2. DATA SHEETS

Effect of sex 1. Finger push strength

For most measurements, no significant differences in maximum strength were found Description
between male and female children (2-15 years). However, in adults aged 16 years and over,
Maximum static forwards and downwards pushing force of the index finger and thumb,
males were generally found to be significantly stronger than females.
exerted for five seconds, in Newtons (N).
Effect of age
Method
Strength was found to increase with age throughout childhood, to peak in adulthood, and
The subject stands in front of the measuring device and adopts a free posture. A static
then to decrease with age from around 50 years. Throughout childhood, each successive
pushing force is exerted with the pad of the index finger or thumb of the dominant hand on
age group (2-5, 6-10, 11-15 years) was found to be significantly stronger than the previous
a circular force plate (i.e. the force plate doesn’t move). Subjects push in a forwards or
group for all six measurements. Generally, however, no significant differences in maximum
downwards direction. Subjects are instructed to build up to their maximum strength in the
strength were found within the adult (16-20, 21-30, 31-50 years) or older adult (51-60,
first few seconds and to maintain maximum strength for a further few seconds.
61-70, 71-80, 81-90 years) age groups. For most strength exertions, adults (16-50 years)
were found to be significantly stronger than older adults (51-90 years), who in turn were Handle type and size
significantly stronger than children (2-10 years). No significant differences in maximum Circular force plate (diameter 20mm, depth 2mm), positioned at subjects elbow height.
strength were generally found between 11-15 year olds and 60-80 year olds, or 6-10 year
olds and 80-90 year olds.
Using the data
When using the data in this study, there are several factors which must be considered:
• Little or no correlation was found between the six measurements, suggesting that the
forces exerted were action-specific. That is, the size, shape and orientation of the
handle or control, the direction of force and the number of hands used all affected the
amount of force that could be exerted.
• Within each measurement, significant differences were found between the experimental
conditions. For example, opening strength was significantly affected by the size and
texture of the jar lid, as was hand grip strength by the size of the handle and number of Circular force plate Experimental trial: Pushing downwards with the index finger

hands used. Exceptions to this finding were finger push strength and push and pull Subject numbers
strength, where no significant differences due to the direction of force were found.
That is, no differences in strength were found between pushing forwards and 148 subjects were measured:
downwards with either the thumb or index finger, and similarly when pushing and
Age (years) Male Female Total
pulling with both 1 and 2 hands on a vertical bar, or 2 hands on a horizontal bar.
2-5 9 8 17
• No restrictions were placed on posture and subjects were able to grip and manipulate
6-10 5 10 15
the various handles and knobs as they chose (with the exception of pinch-pull strength).
11-15 12 5 17
The amount of force that can be exerted in such a free posture is known to be greater
16-20 6 8 14
than that generated in a standardised posture (where subjects are often instructed to
stand upright with their elbows flexed to 90 degrees). 21-30 10 7 17

31-50 7 16 23
• Subjects were instructed to exert their maximum strength (the highest force he or she 51-60 5 6 11
could exert without causing injury).
61-70 3 8 11

Care should therefore be taken when using the data, particularly when applying it to other 71-80 8 11 19

design scenarios, where, for example, individuals may be restricted in the posture that they 81-90 0 4 4

can adopt, where comfortable rather than maximal force is required, or where data are Total 65 83 148

needed for handles and controls of a different size, shape or position.

4 5
Anthropometric variables (stature, weight, elbow height, hand length and hand breadth) for Results
all subjects can be found in Appendix 1a.
Index finger
Pushing forwards (N) Pushing downwards (N)
Analysis Age (years) Sex No. Mean SD Range Mean SD Range

Effect of sex 2-5 m 9 20.32 5.22 16.00 – 35.00 21.82 7.01 14.70 – 35.00
f 8 24.92 9.56 15.90 – 38.60 24.49 8.07 12.40 – 35.10

For all four measurements (pushing forwards and downwards with the index finger and 6-10 m 5 51.50 13.38 30.80 – 61.80 43.32 16.58 15.30 – 57.10
f 10 43.99 17.32 23.40 – 70.30 42.00 17.20 22.80 – 76.80
thumb), no significant differences were found between male and female children (2-15
11-15 m 12 64.32 17.75 35.90 – 92.10 66.65 22.56 35.90 – 102.70
years). However, in all adult and older adult age groups (16-80 years), males were found f 5 64.60 18.42 33.20 – 80.00 63.02 19.44 31.00 – 78.40

to be significantly stronger than females (Appendix 1b). 16-20 m 6 121.37 36.80 82.20 – 163.30 113.93 38.49 60.90 – 162.60
f 8 84.69 23.17 61.90 – 122.60 76.12 22.18 53.60 – 115.90

Effect of age 21-30 m 10 118.67 28.57 76.00 – 155.60 111.29 26.19 71.70 – 142.50
f 7 78.87 15.36 55.90 – 98.40 76.47 15.57 61.90 – 106.60
Finger push force increases with age throughout childhood, it peaks in adulthood, and then 31-50 m 7 122.17 27.53 85.60 – 174.20 127.64 28.70 98.20 – 176.80
f 16 87.12 13.61 66.40 – 111.80 85.95 18.62 62.90 – 119.00
decreases with age from around 50 years. Throughout childhood, each successive age
51-60 m 5 104.12 32.47 55.40 – 137.50 105.28 23.74 71.20 – 124.80
group (2-5, 6-10, 11-15 years) was found to be significantly stronger than the previous for f 6 67.62 10.04 53.80 – 79.00 74.33 9.26 58.00 – 84.70
all four measurements. No significant differences were found within the adult (16-20, 21- 61-70 m 3 101.00 24.62 73.50 – 121.00 122.10 48.59 93.00 – 178.20
f 8 65.78 4.37 59.00 – 73.20 65.45 8.17 55.00 – 75.10
30, 31-50 years) or older adult (51-60, 61-70, 71-80, 81-90 years) age groups, however,
71-80 m 8 83.52 15.61 58.60 – 103.30 90.00 17.64 64.70 – 118.20
differences were found between the groups, in that adults (16-50 years) were found to be f 11 58.29 14.09 41.10 – 84.60 62.03 12.40 37.50 – 79.20
significantly stronger than older adults (51-90), who in turn were stronger than children 81-90 f 4 60.87 11.06 44.40 – 68.10 54.25 7.05 44.40 – 60.70
(Appendix 1c).
Effect of finger type used and direction of force Thumb
The direction of force appears to have little or no effect on maximum finger push strength, Pushing forwards (N) Pushing downwards (N)
Age (years) Sex No. Mean SD Range Mean SD Range
as no significant differences were found between forwards and downwards push (with
2-5 m 9 28.07 9.99 17.30 – 41.60 26.920 18.85 23.50 – 53.80
either the index finger or thumb). The finger used, however, did; pushing with the thumb f 8 30.92 8.66 16.80 – 42.80 34.40 14.59 13.60 – 53.90

generated significantly higher forces than pushing with the index finger (Appendix 1d). Of 6-10 m 5 88.80 28.55 53.40 – 126.60 85.08 34.18 51.40 – 132.10
f 10 70.22 24.61 36.70 – 107.70 71.14 33.56 27.80 – 119.50
the four measurements, children (2-15 years) exerted the greatest force when pushing
11-15 m 12 135.18 71.26 54.40 – 315.40 115.09 40.01 67.90 – 209.10
forwards with the thumb, whilst adults (16-50 years) and older adults (51-90 years) f 5 97.02 26.94 51.30 – 119.70 94.34 36.16 39.10 – 139.60

generally exerted the greatest force whilst pushing downwards with the thumb. Correlation 6-20 m 6 189.17 49.04 119.70 – 253.00 195.78 51.50 113.90 – 247.50
f 8 142.75 45.71 100.00 – 234.60 125.46 24.26 86.20 – 161.40
coefficients for all 4 measurements can be found in Appendix 1e. 21-30 m 10 177.00 51.35 114.90 – 290.60 184.14 52.19 109.30 – 290.10
f 7 116.08 28.22 70.50 – 147.90 135.17 30.35 84.70 – 180.70

31-50 m 7 188.38 30.80 147.10 – 224.40 201.40 23.54 173.70 – 242.20

f 16 133.51 33.39 79.40 – 220.40 133.36 29.36 86.90 – 187.20

51-60 m 5 171.88 51.42 91.20 – 228.60 168.34 61.27 76.30 – 248.70

f 6 105.98 35.36 59.60 – 155.00 124.48 26.38 85.60 – 142.80

61-70 m 3 159.33 82.54 68.80 – 230.40 172.73 67.13 103.80 – 237.90

f 8 92.16 11.41 73.60 – 109.00 94.53 13.97 72.80 – 119.30

71-80 m 8 140.85 27.93 114.40 – 184.90 145.45 46.89 91.60 – 211.80

f 11 86.39 20.84 58.10 – 113.20 89.83 18.94 61.50 – 123.30

81-90 f 4 86.6 24.41 56.40 – 116.20 80.57 25.37 56.50 – 109.90

6 7
 Strength (N) Strength (N)

100

150

200

250

300

350

100

150

200

250
50

50
0

0
0

2-5
10

6-10

Mean maximum finger push strength (males)

20

Maximum index finger push strength

11-15
30

16-20
2. Pinch-pull strength
Age years

Age years
40

Description

21-30
50

Maximum static pulling strength when pinching and pulling with the thumb, index and

31-50
middle fingers, exerted for five seconds, in Newtons (N).
60

51-60
Method
70

61-70
The subject stands in front of the measuring device and adopts a free posture. A static pulling
80

force is exerted whilst pinching on a series of handles with the pad of the thumb in

71-80
opposition to i) the pad of the index finger (pulp-pinch) and ii) the pads of both the index
90

and middle fingers (chuck-pinch). Subjects are instructed to build up to their maximum
strength in the first few seconds and to maintain maximum strength for a further few seconds.
Pushing downwards
Pushing forwards

Childata
Older adultdata
Adultdata

Older adultdata
Adultdata

Thumb (downwards)
Thumb (forwards)
Index finger (downwards)
Index finger (forwards)
Childata

Handle type and size

A series of three custom-made handles: a textured fabric strip (40 mm x 40 mm x 2 mm)
and two fabric-covered blocks (40 mm x 40 mm x 20 mm and 40 mm x 40 mm x 40 mm),
positioned at elbow height.

Strength (N) Strength (N)

100

150

200

250

300

350

100

150

200

250
50

50
0

0
0

2-5
10

6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90

Mean maximum finger push strength (females)

20

Maximum index thumb push strength

30

2mm fabric strip 20mm block

Age years

Age years
40
50
60
70
80
90

Childata

Pushing downwards
Pushing forwards

Childata
Older adultdata
Adultdata

Older adultdata
Adultdata

Thumb (downwards)
Thumb (forwards)
Index finger (downwards)
Index finger (forwards)

40mm block Experimental trial: Chuck pinch-pull (20mm block)

8 9
Subject numbers significantly higher forces than pinching with the pad of the thumb in opposition to the pad
of the index finger only (pulp-pinch). For both pinch types (pulp and chuck), pulling
146 subjects were measured: strength was greatly effected by the pinch distance. That is, as the size of the pinch distance
increased from 2 mm to 20 mm and to 40 mm, so did maximum strength (Appendix 2d).
Age (years) Male Female Total
Correlation coefficients for all 6 measurements can be found in Appendix 2e.
2-5 8 5 13
Results
6-10 7 9 16

11-15 10 7 17 2mm strip (N) 20mm block (N) 40mm block (N)
Age
years Sex No. Pinch Mean SD Range Mean SD Range Mean SD Range
16-20 11 7 18
2-5 m 8 pulp 18.22 8.09 10.30 – 29.70 19.69 4.96 12.20 – 27.70 21.10 5.14 15.10 – 27.60
21-30 8 9 17 chuck 21.97 3.73 7.60 – 27.00 24.83 5.62 16.00 – 31.40 26.56 4.44 17.10 – 32.70
f 5 pulp 16.06 8.38 2.70 – 24.50 15.00 8.94 6.90 – 30.30 14.36 6.67 3.60 – 28.30
31-50 5 13 18 chuck 17.18 12.64 2.50 – 39.20 19.32 10.81 9.00 – 36.70 17.38 8.53 11.10 – 32.20
51-60 5 6 11 6-10 m 7 pulp 37.50 13.31 20.00 – 57.10 42.78 14.68 23.60 – 64.80 49.54 17.79 26.30 – 60.70
61-70 4 9 13 chuck 47.77 16.65 27.90 – 59.50 55.18 21.05 31.10 – 95.30 62.26 25.15 31.70 – 98.80
f 9 pulp 34.53 12.42 15.80 – 55.80 33.18 9.80 21.50 – 62.30 37.05 13.21 22.90 – 46.60
71-80 8 11 19 chuck 36.34 12.72 21.80 – 60.70 45.69 15.73 31.60 – 77.00 48.14 15.55 32.60 – 79.00

81-90 0 4 4 11-15 m 10 pulp 50.95 15.54 33.10 – 76.80 60.89 17.77 36.60 – 92.90 62.61 17.99 44.30 – 97.60
chuck 57.27 18.94 39.50 – 91.10 78.08 29.22 50.00 – 135.00 82.41 21.21 55.50 – 118.40
Total 66 80 146 f 7 pulp 44.84 10.08 31.60 – 57.90 50.36 14.06 33.40 – 80.30 53.38 8.40 46.50 – 68.10
chuck 49.50 11.99 31.80 – 66.40 60.91 12.90 43.40 – 81.20 68.48 13.90 48.40 – 88.10

16-20 m 11 pulp 70.51 18.83 46.20 – 112.50 79.34 20.14 53.60 – 105.70 81.60 21.93 46.70 – 106.10
chuck 78.90 16.45 55.30 – 106.70 90.44 18.75 62.60 – 129.20 105.30 20.03 73.60 – 141.00
Anthropometric variables (stature, weight, elbow height, hand length and hand breadth) for f 7 pulp 62.87 8.58 52.10 – 74.70 70.81 13.88 52.40 – 115.50 75.27 15.76 63.00 – 121.40
chuck 68.27 12.57 52.40 – 90.70 81.40 11.25 72.80 – 109.20 92.40 12.92 77.10 – 116.30
all subjects can be found in Appendix 2a.
21-30 m 8 pulp 75.52 29.27 31.80 – 134.30 81.92 16.06 59.00 – 113.60 86.01 17.59 53.20 – 116.50
chuck 80.86 22.44 56.40 – 126.40 89.82 20.33 58.00 – 121.40 105.50 21.66 75.10 – 138.90
Analysis f 9 pulp 62.48 16.13 36.30 – 79.10 60.95 12.36 35.90 – 73.50 62.49 10.47 40.10 – 74.50
chuck 67.15 17.88 40.40 – 91.30 68.91 13.22 49.00 – 91.70 75.62 14.95 51.60 – 94.70
Effect of sex 31-50 m 5 pulp 78.00 9.95 70.90 – 100.90 87.54 11.18 72.80 – 100.30 108.00 19.88 62.20 – 130.60
chuck 90.90 14.43 73.60 – 109.40 108.50 8.31 98.30 – 120.70 118.6 9.65 106.10 – 130.10
No significant differences in maximum pinch-pull strength were found between males and f 13 pulp 65.94 26.66 47.00 – 144.80 71.55 22.26 41.90 – 109.50 73.86 21.98 44.30 – 117.70
chuck 70.04 15.04 50.30 – 98.10 76.79 19.51 53.60 – 111.10 89.09 21.73 57.70 – 128.00
females aged up to 20 years. However, males aged 21 to 80 years were significantly
51-60 m 5 pulp 57.32 5.69 52.40 – 58.20 68.86 8.95 58.80 – 77.40 77.32 19.51 56.30 – 105.20
stronger than females for most pinch-pull exertions (Appendix 2b). chuck 74.34 10.99 63.50 – 92.90 84.00 16.75 74.50 – 113.70 92.60 20.06 69.80 – 120.30
f 6 pulp 52.40 17.84 24.50 – 77.00 63.22 14.94 43.30 – 79.90 67.85 19.36 51.20 – 90.20
chuck 59.93 13.71 45.60 – 79.50 62.82 14.80 52.00 – 91.30 75.07 18.03 58.10 – 99.30
Effect of age
61-70 m 4 pulp 72.35 20.72 44.20 – 94.10 83.87 13.00 67.00 – 97.70 90.57 19.79 63.50 – 109.00
chuck 73.05 11.01 51.00 – 84.70 83.05 13.89 68.00 – 95.40 92.15 4.74 85.40 – 96.50
For all six pinch-pull exertions (2 pinch types and 3 pinch distances), maximum strength f 9 pulp 44.93 8.24 32.00 – 59.10 51.05 9.59 35.00 – 68.90 55.74 10.78 38.60 – 69.30
increases throughout childhood (2-15 years), it peaks in adulthood, and then decreases chuck 44.88 8.87 37.00 – 65.10 53.91 7.95 44.10 – 71.90 64.83 7.67 55.70 – 80.90

71-80 m 8 pulp 57.85 13.53 41.40 – 83.30 66.72 17.11 42.30 – 92.20 70.59 18.94 46.00 – 96.20
with age from around 50 years. No significant differences in strength were found within chuck 70.64 10.90 52.00 – 84.90 82.90 17.18 57.10 – 104.60 94.64 24.75 60.80 – 109.60
the adult (16-20, 21-30, 31-50 years) or older adult (51-60, 61-70, 71-80, 81-90 years) f 11 pulp
chuck
40.28
47.74
7.70
9.55
26.10 – 54.40
32.20 – 69.10
48.07
50.30
10.68
11.17
34.40 – 57.90
37.00 – 73.70
49.53
52.70
11.12
7.67
36.40 – 72.10
37.40 – 72.30
age groups. However, significant differences were found within the child age groups (2-5, 81-90 f 4 pulp 41.92 13.19 33.00 – 61.10 52.17 6.73 45.00 – 60.90 57.40 9.68 44.90 - 68.50
6-10, 11-15), with each successive group being significantly stronger than the previous for chuck 46.32 12.14 30.30 – 59.80 54.22 8.21 48.00 – 66.30 60.38 9.16 47.50 - 69.20

all six measurements (Appendix 2c).

Effect of pinch type and distance
Both the type of pinch and the pinch distance appear to have an effect on maximum
strength. For both males and females, pinching and pulling with the pad of the thumb in
opposition to the pads of both the index and middle fingers (chuck-pinch) generated

10 11
 Strength (N) Strength (N)

100

120

140

160

100

120

140
20

40

60

80

20

40

60

80
0

0
0

2-5
10

6-10

Mean maximum pinch-pull strength (males)

20

11-15
Maximum pulp pinch-pull strength
3. Hand grip strength
30

16-20
Description
Age years

Age years
40

21-30
Maximum static gripping force of 1 and 2 hands, exerted for five seconds, in Newtons (N).
50

31-50
Method
60

The subject stands and adopts a free posture. A static gripping force is exerted with 1

51-60
(dominant) or 2 hands on a series of handles (i.e. the handle doesn’t move). The handle is
70

61-70
held between the middle joints of the thumb and all four fingers. Subjects are instructed to
80

build up to their maximum strength in the first few seconds and to maintain maximum
71-80 strength for a further few seconds.
90

Handle type and size

Hand grip dynamometer with handle separations of 30mm, 50mm and 70mm (handle
40mm
20mm
2mm
Childata

Childata
Older adultdata
Adultdata

Older adultdata
Adultdata

Chuck (40mm)
Chuck (20mm)
Chuck (2mm)
Pulp (40mm)
Pulp (20mm)
Pulp (2mm)
length 100mm). Handles are freely moveable.

Strength (N) Strength (N)

100

120

140

160

100

120

140
20

40

60

80

20

40

60

80
0

0
0

2-5
10

6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90

Mean maximum pinch-pull strength (females)

20

70, 50 and 30mm handles Experimental trial: 1 handed grip strength (70mm handle)
Maximum chuck pinch-pull strength
30
Age years

Age years
40
50
60
70
80
90

Childata

40mm
20mm
2mm

Childata
Older adultdata
Adultdata

Older adultdata
Adultdata

Chuck (40mm)
Chuck (20mm)
Chuck (2mm)
Pulp (40mm)
Pulp (20mm)
Pulp (2mm)

12 13
Subject numbers (30, 50 and 70mm). For both males and females, maximum 1 handed grip strength was
generally exerted with the medium sized handle (50mm), whilst for 2 handed strength,
153 subjects were measured:
gripping with the large handle (70mm) generated the highest forces. Gripping on the small
handle (30mm) for both 1 and 2 handed strength generated the weakest forces for both
Age (years) Male Female Total
males and females of all ages (with the exception of 2-5 year old females who generated the
2-5 8 9 17
weakest force when gripping the 70mm handle). Correlation coefficients for all 6
6-10 7 11 18
measurements can be found in Appendix 3e.
11-15 10 10 20

16-20 9 7 16 Results
21-30 7 7 14
1 handed grip strength
31-50 6 11 17
Small handle - 30mm (N) Medium handle - 50mm (N) Large handle - 70mm (N)
51-60 4 6 10 Age
years Sex No. Mean SD Range Mean SD Range Mean SD Range
61-70 6 9 15
2-5 m 8 5.80 3.84 2.00 - 11.30 5.95 3.05 2.90 - 11.1 5.59 3.98 2.42 - 12.4
71-80 8 12 20 f 9 4.60 1.44 2.84 - 6.18 4.43 1.78 2.33 - 8.31 3.18 1.15 2.20 - 5.50

81-90 0 6 6 6-10 m 7 17.20 2.68 13.90 - 20.70 18.99 6.00 12.50 - 29.10 17.58 6.12 10.10 - 27.90
f 11 14.01 4.28 8.10 - 19.90 15.45 5.50 9.20 - 24.90 14.32 6.76 7.50 - 27.10
Total 65 88 153
11-15 m 10 24.78 7.92 14.20 - 37.90 29.21 9.91 18.40 - 52.10 30.20 11.87 18.90 - 57.10
f 10 19.32 3.73 12.80 - 24.80 23.44 5.86 14.10 - 32.10 23.14 7.03 12.40 - 34.50

16-20 m 9 43.83 11.31 25.80 - 61.20 52.28 12.96 34.80 - 79.80 49.23 7.68 39.60 - 64.70
Anthropometric variables (stature, weight, elbow height, hand length and hand breadth) for f 7 22.28 6.12 16.80 - 30.80 34.51 9.85 24.20 - 50.40 32.91 6.77 25.90 - 43.40

all subjects can be found in Appendix 3a. 21-30 m 7 41.77 10.33 21.50 - 51.80 49.90 9.80 33.70 - 63.40 46.26 11.77 28.70 - 68.00
f 7 25.93 4.84 20.80 - 33.70 28.20 4.25 23.60 - 36.80 27.21 5.10 18.30 - 31.90
Analysis 31-50 m 6 46.38 6.44 37.40 - 54.00 54.03 7.04 43.10 - 64.40 52.07 6.32 44.00 - 60.30
f 11 25.28 7.01 13.60 - 35.60 31.42 4.99 21.50 - 37.30 28.89 3.52 23.30 - 34.30
Effect of sex 51-60 m 4 29.85 3.95 25.50 - 33.30 44.45 4.08 38.70 - 47.90 44.38 4.69 40.90 - 51.20
f 6 21.18 4.64 16.60 - 28.30 29.47 5.49 24.30 - 36.20 28.00 6.03 21.40 - 38.60
For all six measurements (gripping with 1 and 2 hands on three handle sizes), no significant 61-70 m 6 32.42 8.17 20.30 - 40.80 43.07 5.49 36.40 - 50.30 42.95 7.04 35.20 - 52.10
f 9 16.47 5.12 11.90 - 26.70 24.39 5.47 16.80 - 32.80 23.67 5.53 14.60 - 32.00
differences were found between male and female children (2-15 years). However, in all
71-80 m 8 30.71 3.98 24.30 - 37.20 35.60 6.06 25.30 - 40.00 38.05 3.09 32.90 - 41.80
adult and older adult age groups (16-80 years), males were found to be significantly f 12 16.83 6.34 6.86 - 30.50 21.17 4.76 13.20 - 28.60 22.98 4.94 17.20 - 34.30
stronger than females for most hand grip actions (Appendix 3b). 81-90 f 6 12.08 5.12 4.05 - 19.60 16.00 4.56 7.81 - 21.00 16.32 2.99 11.80 - 19.80

Effect of age
Hand grip strength increases with age throughout childhood, it peaks in adulthood, and
then decreases with age from around 50 years. Throughout childhood, each successive age
group (2-5, 6-10, 11-15 years) was found to be significantly stronger than the previous for
all six measurements. Adults (16-50 years) were generally found to be significantly
stronger than older adults (51-90 years), who in turn were significantly stronger than
children, with the exception of those aged 11-15 years (Appendix 3c).
Effect of handle size and number of hands used
Both the size of the handle and the number of hands used appear to significantly effect the
maximum strength that can be exerted (Appendix 3d). Gripping with 2 hands generated
significantly higher forces than those generated with 1 hand only for all three handle sizes

14 15
 30mm (2 hands)
50mm (2 hands)
70mm (2 hands)

Older adultdata

Older adultdata
30mm (1 hand)
50mm (1 hand)
70mm (1 hand)

30mm handle
50mm handle
70mm handle
Adultdata

Adultdata
Childata

Childata

90
2 handed grip strength

6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90

80
Small handle - 30mm (N) Medium handle - 50mm (N) Large handle - 70mm (N)
Age

Mean maximum hand grip strength (females)

years Sex No. Mean SD Range Mean SD Range Mean SD Range

70
2-5 m 8 10.17 4.83 4.05 - 16.00 12.03 6.28 5.94 - 19.64 11.13 6.61 4.07 - 19.10

Maximum 2 handed grip strength

f 9 8.51 3.02 4.06 - 12.20 9.21 3.51 3.93 - 15.50 6.06 3.01 3.33 - 12.30

60
6-10 m 7 26.67 5.03 17.60 - 33.00 31.63 7.90 20.90 - 44.40 33.10 8.52 20.70 - 45.50
f 11 20.77 6.94 9.30 - 33.10 26.21 9.56 11.90 - 41.10 26.12 9.65 15.40 - 44.00

50
Age years

Age years
11-15 m 10 37.05 11.96 18.90 - 62.90 46.48 15.70 34.80 - 89.10 49.18 15.20 30.80 - 83.90
f 10 31.03 6.08 19.90 - 37.40 35.10 8.92 24.90 - 54.50 40.53 12.99 20.50 - 59.60

40
16-20 m 9 61.12 11.21 46.20 - 83.70 74.24 12.90 53.40 - 89.00 77.53 8.12 63.20 - 89.00
f 7 31.98 7.74 20.10 - 41.00 43.67 9.85 26.80 - 54.20 44.93 8.23 33.80 - 59.90

30
21-30 m 7 54.24 15.56 33.50 - 74.80 60.55 17.80 28.30 - 77.10 67.87 17.14 37.50 - 86.50
f 7 36.21 9.23 25.00 - 50.80 39.68 4.25 31.20 - 53.30 43.27 8.45 30.00 - 52.10

31-50 m 6 63.80 26.35 59.10 - 69.30 77.70 32.30 70.30 - 85.20 80.10 32.78 76.30 - 82.80

20
f 11 33.03 10.76 19.00 - 48.60 45.29 8.48 32.50 - 59.30 49.23 11.51 37.40 - 71.50

51-60 m 4 49.62 4.18 46.20 - 54.70 64.88 6.62 56.90 - 73.10 68.32 9.18 61.10 - 80.60

10
f 6 32.67 11.64 12.20 - 44.60 45.48 10.90 26.30 - 55.20 45.33 9.33 29.90 - 54.60

2-5
61-70 m 6 43.23 13.41 23.00 - 61.70 58.87 7.96 46.70 - 66.80 65.00 10.29 49.60 - 79.00

0
f 9 22.21 7.09 12.70 - 32.50 35.52 8.20 22.90 - 46.30 33.81 5.50 26.00 - 41.60

100

80

60

40

20

0
0
80

60

40

20
100
71-80 m 8 35.28 5.04 27.80 - 43.70 48.74 6.14 40.80 - 60.20 56.85 7.54 49.00 - 73.80 Strength (N) Strength (N)
f 12 20.84 7.37 6.60 - 32.20 27.88 7.27 13.30 - 36.30 33.40 8.24 19.90 - 43.90

81-90 f 6 14.12 3.47 10.10 - 19.40 18.85 6.89 11.50 - 28.60 25.53 3.35 22.70 - 31.40

30mm (2 hands)
50mm (2 hands)
70mm (2 hands)

Older adultdata

Older adultdata
30mm (1 hand)
50mm (1 hand)
70mm (1 hand)

30mm handle
50mm handle
70mm handle
Adultdata

Adultdata
Childata

Childata

90
71-80

80
61-70
Mean maximum hand grip strength (males)

70
51-60

Maximum 1 handed grip strength

60
31-50

50
Age years

Age years
21-30

40
16-20

30
11-15

20
6-10

10
2-5

0
0

0
80

60

40

20

80

60

40

20
100

100
Strength (N) Strength (N)

16 17
4. Wrist-twisting strength
Description
Maximum static torque of 1 (dominant) hand, exerted on knobs and handles in a horizontal
and vertical orientation for five seconds, in Newton-metres (Nm).
Method
The subject stands in front of the measuring device and adopts a free posture. A static
twisting force is exerted with 1 (dominant) hand in a clock-wise direction on a variety of
knobs and handles (i.e. the knob doesn’t move). Subjects are instructed to build up to their
maximum strength in the first few seconds and to maintain maximum strength for a further i) Door lever ii) Door knob
few seconds.
Handle type and size
A series of six handles and knobs:
i) door lever (diameter 15mm, length 170mm),
ii) door knob (diameter 65mm, depth 45mm),
iii) circular knob (diameter 40mm, depth 20mm),
iv) ridged knob (length 40mm, depth 15mm),
v) butterfly nut (length 40mm, depth 10mm), and
vi) tap (diameter 50mm, depth 40mm), positioned at elbow height and orientated
vertically (vertical wrist-twisting strength).
The ridged knob, butterfly nut and tap were also orientated horizontally (horizontal wrist- iii) Circular knob iv) Ridged knob
twisting strength).

v) Butterfly nut vi) Tap

18 19
Subject numbers Analysis
Subjects were measured in 2 experimental sessions: the first for vertical wrist-twisting Effect of sex
strength, and the second for horizontal wrist-twisting strength. 150 subjects were measured
No significant differences in wrist-twisting strength (vertical and horizontal) were found
in each session, although not all subjects attended both sessions.
between male and female children (2-15 years). However, in adults aged 16 years and over,
Session 1 males were generally found to be significantly stronger than females (Appendix 4b).

Age (years) Male Female Total Effect of age

2-5 12 7 19 Maximum strength for both vertical and horizontal wrist-twisting increases throughout
6-10 7 11 18 childhood (2-15 years), it peaks in adulthood, and then decreases with age from around 50
11-15 11 6 17
years. No significant differences in maximum strength were found in subjects aged between
16-20 6 8 14
16 and 60 years. However, both adults and older adults were found to be significantly
21-30 7 7 14
stronger than children aged from 2 to 10 years. No significant differences in vertical wrist-
31-50 5 13 18
twisting strength were found between 11-15 year olds and those subjects aged 51 or over
51-60 4 6 10
(Appendix 4c).
61-70 4 10 14

71-80 8 12 20 Effect of handle type and orientation

81-90 0 6 6
The handle type appears to significantly affect maximum strength, as significant differences
Total 64 86 150
were found between all 6 handles and knobs (Appendix 4d). As expected, those handles
which allow manipulation with the whole hand (e.g. door knob and tap) generated higher
Session 2
forces than those handles allowing manipulation with the fingers only (e.g. butterfly nut and
Age (years) Male Female Total ridged knob), and this appears true for males and females of all ages. The strength exerted
on the door lever far exceeded those strengths exerted on all other handles and controls, for
2-5 8 7 15

6-10 7 11 18
both males and females. No significant differences in strength due to handle orientation
11-15 10 10 20
were found for the tap (Appendix 4e). However, both males and females exerted higher
16-20 9 7 16 forces on the ridged knob and butterfly nut when orientated horizontally, as opposed to
21-30 7 7 14 vertically. Correlation coefficients for all measurements can be found in Appendix 4f.
31-50 6 12 18

51-60 3 6 9

61-70 6 9 15

71-80 8 11 19

81-90 0 6 6

Total 64 86 150

Anthropometric variables (stature, weight, elbow height, hand length and hand breadth) for
all subjects can be found in Appendix 4a.

20 21
 Older adultdata
Older adultdata

Circular knob
Ridged knob
Circular knob

Butterfly nut
Ridged knob
Butterfly nut

Adultdata
Door knob
Door lever

Adultdata

Childata
Childata
Tap

Maximum vertical wrist-twisting strength (circular and ridgedknob, butterfly nut)

90
Results

6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90

80
Vertical wrist-twisting strength

Mean maximum vertical wrist-twisting strength (females)

70
Door lever (Nm) Door knob (Nm) Tap (Nm)
Age
years Sex No. Mean SD Range Mean SD Range Mean SD Range

60
2-5 m 12 8.38 3.81 3.28 – 16.77 1.32 0.72 0.58 – 3.02 1.11 0.71 0.37 – 2.40
f 7 7.16 4.10 3.41 – 14.24 1.00 0.79 0.45 – 2.34 0.82 0.56 0.50 – 1.76

50
Age years

Age years
6-10 m 7 15.23 3.10 12.50 – 21.80 4.16 1.24 1.73 – 5.82 4.23 1.22 2.77 – 6.29
f 11 12.71 3.96 7.78 – 20.92 3.06 1.45 1.38 – 6.46 3.01 1.65 1.54 – 6.61

40
11-15 m 11 19.14 4.99 10.11 – 26.50 5.81 2.19 2.73 – 8.41 5.63 2.46 2.24 – 11.40
f 6 19.27 5.18 11.40 – 25.01 3.81 1.69 2.04 – 6.74 4.32 1.46 2.62 – 6.52

16-20 m 6 33.02 8.74 22.84 – 43.80 7.37 2.50 3.87 – 10.8 8.05 1.76 6.18 – 10.86

30
f 8 22.79 6.49 14.57 – 31.60 5.31 1.30 3.13 – 6.72 5.89 1.41 3.70 – 7.89

21-30 m 7 33.61 9.22 25.43 – 48.70 7.53 2.81 3.01 – 12.1 7.93 2.35 4.62 – 11.74

20
f 7 17.79 4.49 10.50 – 23.28 5.02 1.00 3.88 – 6.93 5.83 1.76 3.67 – 8.41

31-50 m 5 32.18 6.23 26.50 – 41.55 6.56 1.85 3.94 – 8.42 8.77 2.36 6.22 – 11.85

10
f 13 21.90 8.33 10.96 – 39.20 5.23 1.69 2.36 – 7.85 5.99 1.24 4.00 – 7.79

2-5
51-60 m 4 27.93 11.40 17.00 – 43.26 6.43 2.68 4.12 – 10.2 8.22 1.92 6.39 – 10.36

0
f 6 19.83 25.90 15.69 – 31.10 5.55 1.41 4.40 – 8.24 6.34 1.76 4.93 – 9.80

0
60

50

40

30

20

10
5

0
40

35

30

25

20

15

10
61-70 m 4 21.99 6.13 14.50 – 29.45 6.53 1.36 5.16 – 7.82 8.37 0.30 8.02 – 8.65 Strength (Nm) Strength (Nm)
f 10 19.82 8.59 6.61 – 32.28 3.55 0.81 2.37 – 4.90 4.93 1.05 3.50 – 7.45

71-80 m 8 31.83 9.40 17.30 – 47.75 5.86 0.86 4.43 – 6.91 7.67 1.39 5.92 – 9.93
f 12 19.23 8.41 5.30 – 34.05 3.45 1.10 1.94 – 6.40 4.05 1.01 2.44 – 5.63

81-90 f 6 17.68 6.00 9.72 – 23.80 3.22 0.68 2.26 – 4.06 4.17 0.54 3.47 – 4.87

Older adultdata

Older adultdata
Circular knob
Ridged knob
Butterfly nut
Door knob

Door knob
Door lever

Door lever
Adultdata

Adultdata
Childata

Childata
Circular knob (Nm) Ridged knob (Nm) Butterfly nut (Nm)

Tap

Tap
Age
years Sex No. Mean SD Range Mean SD Range Mean SD Range
2-5 m 12 1 0.46 0.31 – 1.96 0.54 0.21 0.18 – 0.88 0.6 0.34 0.17 – 1.43
f 7 0.89 0.45 0.38 – 1.47 0.68 0.52 0.35 – 1.71 0.57 0.24 0.30 – 0.98

6-10 m 7 3.45 1.29 1.73 – 5.30 1.92 0.75 0.88 – 2.93 1.96 0.35 1.03 – 3.29

90
f 11 2.19 0.8 1.02 – 3.88 1.47 0.97 0.50 – 3.93 1.21 0.2 0.45 – 2.95

Maximum vertical wrist-twisting strength (door lever, door knob, tap)

71-80
11-15 m 11 3.78 1.51 1.58 – 6.35 2.7 0.81 1.89 – 4.16 2.63 1.13 1.23 – 5.27

80
f 6 2.9 1.29 1.07 – 4.36 2.14 0.75 1.29 – 3.14 1.88 0.52 1.09 – 2.46

Mean maximum vertical wrist-twisting strength (males)

61-70
16-20 m 6 4.76 1.67 2.34 – 7.39 4.44 0.45 3.77 – 4.89 4.11 0.71 3.08 – 4.95
f 8 3.06 0.85 2.02 – 4.46 3.3 0.82 2.51 – 4.92 2.6 0.64 1.73 – 3.61

70
51-60
21-30 m 7 4.14 1.8 1.54 – 6.62 4.6 1.32 2.66 – 6.40 3.94 0.95 2.97 – 5.79
f 7 3.49 1.28 2.08 – 5.13 2.8 0.32 2.22 – 3.09 2.42 0.39 1.96 – 2.97

60
31-50
31-50 m 5 4.48 1.69 2.56 – 6.08 4.34 0.85 3.14 – 5.36 4.26 1.6 2.54 – 6.88
f 13 3.89 1.32 1.45 – 6.13 2.92 0.74 1.67 – 4.21 2.86 0.74 1.90 – 4.22

50
Age years

Age years
21-30
51-60 m 4 4.18 1.05 3.39 – 5.74 3.61 0.6 2.91 – 4.21 3.59 0.79 2.88 – 4.72
f 6 3.49 0.65 2.87 – 4.72 2.85 0.82 2.13 – 4.29 2.66 0.5 1.98 – 3.32

40
16-20
61-70 m 4 3.18 1.42 2.26 – 5.30 3.7 0.87 3.14 – 5.01 3.16 0.46 2.67 – 3.61
f 10 2.56 0.57 1.55 – 3.42 2.31 0.43 1.56 – 2.86 2.32 0.58 1.67 – 3.19

30
71-80 m 8 3.57 0.8 2.60 – 5.05 3.41 0.52 2.80 – 4.21 2.96 0.66 1.87 – 3.93

11-15
f 12 2.55 0.67 1.38 – 3.52 2.27 0.58 1.47 – 3.27 2.06 0.44 1.61 – 2.90

20
81-90 f 6 2.03 0.5 1.31 – 2.53 2.06 0.59 1.69 – 3.35 2.15 0.42 1.69 – 3.35

6-10

10
2-5

0
5

0
40

35

30

25

20

15

10

60

50

40

30

20

10
Strength (Nm) Strength (Nm)

22 23
Horizontal wrist-twisting strength

Tap (Nm) Ridged knob (Nm) Butterfly nut (Nm)

Age
years Sex No. Mean SD Range Mean SD Range Mean SD Range

2-5 m 8 1.19 0.69 0.60 – 2.51 0.86 0.36 0.48 – 1.37 0.69 0.31 0.40 – 1.37
f 7 0.84 0.11 0.69 – 1.00 0.56 0.26 0.17 – 0.90 0.47 0.13 0.30 – 0.62

6-10 m 7 3.99 1.25 2.11 – 5.91 2.60 0.72 1.64 – 3.55 2.40 0.72 1.40 – 3.36
f 11 3.18 1.36 1.11 – 5.28 1.98 0.87 0.75 – 3.67 1.65 0.71 0.64 – 2.89

11-15 m 10 5.93 2.56 2.74 – 11.0 3.05 0.91 1.69 – 4.73 2.87 0.96 1.55 – 4.63
f 10 4.23 1.46 2.76 – 6.76 2.58 0.74 1.75 – 3.96 2.33 0.57 1.49 – 3.07 Maximum horizontal wrist-twisting strength

16-20 m 9 9.49 2.69 5.91 – 13.48 4.96 0.92 4.09 – 6.98 4.98 0.87 3.49 – 6.13 16
Tap
f 7 5.84 1.41 4.33 – 8.11 3.34 0.41 2.80 – 3.89 3.09 0.43 2.62 – 3.79
14 Ridged knob
21-30 m 7 9.21 2.75 5.76 – 12.58 4.97 1.29 3.28 – 7.05 4.31 1.30 2.57 – 6.23 Butterfly nut
f 7 4.79 1.33 3.15 – 6.38 2.98 0.33 2.59 – 3.61 2.67 0.60 1.97 – 3.69 12
Childata

Strength (Nm)
31-50 m 6 9.83 1.49 7.92 – 11.70 4.70 0.65 3.96 – 5.53 5.31 1.13 3.81 – 7.15 10
f 12 5.65 1.55 4.08 – 8.41 3.57 0.48 2.74 – 4.36 3.31 0.57 2.48 – 4.39 Adultdata
8 Older adultdata
51-60 m 3 6.00 2.36 4.60 – 8.73 3.85 1.45 2.22 – 5.03 4.03 0.97 2.91 – 4.68
f 6 5.55 2.49 3.09 – 9.86 3.51 1.12 1.93 – 5.20 3.67 0.92 2.17 – 4.54 6
61-70 m 6 8.15 1.82 5.68 – 11.16 5.03 0.89 4.02 – 6.34 4.85 0.42 4.34 – 5.53
4
f 9 3.77 0.81 2.83 – 5.26 3.08 0.55 2.42 – 4.04 2.63 0.33 2.11 – 3.35

71-80 m 8 7.12 2.18 4.62 – 11.19 3.89 0.56 2.90 – 4.77 3.88 0.88 2.38 – 5.56 2
f 11 4.32 1.10 2.76 – 6.42 2.65 0.43 2.15 – 3.52 2.42 0.43 1.71 – 3.03
0
81-90 f 6 3.27 0.48 2.73 – 4.16 2.64 0.51 1.93 – 3.13 2.40 0.49 1.73 – 3.04 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Age years

Mean maximum horizontal wrist-twisting strength (females)

12
Ridged knob
Butterfly nut
10 Tap
Mean maximum horizontal wrist-twisting strength (males)
8 Childata
12

Strength (Nm)
Ridged knob Adultdata
Butterfly Nut
10 6 Older adultdata
Tap

Childata 4
8
Strength (Nm)

Adultdata
6 Older adultdata 2

4 0
2-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90
Age years
2

0
2-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80
Age years

24 25
5. Opening strength Subject numbers
Description 144 subjects were measured:
Maximum static torque of the preferred hand, exerted on jar lids for five seconds, in Age (years) Male Female Total
Newton-metres (Nm).
2-5 7 10 17

Method 6-10 8 10 18

11-15 9 7 16
The subject stands and adopts a free posture. The replica jar is held with 1 (preferred) hand
16-20 5 5 10
and a static twisting force is exerted with the other on the lid of the jar (i.e. the lid doesn’t 21-30 8 9 17
move). Subjects are instructed to build up to their maximum strength in the first few 31-50 5 13 18
seconds and to maintain maximum strength for a further few seconds. 51-60 4 5 9

61-70 5 9 14
Handle type and size
71-80 8 12 20
A series of 3 custom-made aluminium jars (height 125mm) with smooth and knurled lids 81-90 0 5 5
(diameters 45, 65 and 85mm). Total 59 85 144

Anthropometric variables (stature, weight, elbow height, hand length and hand breadth) for
all subjects can be found in Appendix 5a.
Analysis
Effect of sex
Up until the age of 60 years, no significant differences in opening strength were found
between males and females. However, in adults aged over 60 years, males were found to
be significantly stronger than females, for most torque actions (Appendix 5b).
45mm jar 65mm jar
Effect of age
For all six opening strength exertions (3 lid sizes and 2 lid textures), maximum strength
increases throughout childhood (2-15 years), it peaks in adulthood, and then decreases
with age from around 50 years. No significant differences in maximum strength were found
between subjects aged from 16 to 70 years. However, significant differences were found
between the child age groups (2-5, 6-10, 11-15 years), with each successive group being
significantly stronger than the previous for all six measurements (Appendix 5c).
Effect of lid size and texture
Both the lid size and texture appear to have an effect on maximum strength. For all three
lid sizes (45, 65 and 85mm), those with a knurled texture generated significantly higher
85mm jar Experimental trial: 45mm jar forces than those with a smooth texture. Both children and adults of all ages exerted their
maximum strength on the 85mm lid. Maximum strength decreased as the size of the lid

26 27
 85mm smooth lod
45mm smooth lid
65mm smooth lid

45mm knurled lid

65mm knurled lid
85mm knurled lid

Older adultdata
Older adultdata

Adultdata
45mm jar
65mm jar
85mm jar

Childata
Adultdata
Childata

90
6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90
decreased, for both males and females of all ages. That is, as the size of the lid decreased

80
from 85 to 65 to 45mm, the maximum strength that could be exerted also decreased

Mean maximum vertical wrist-twisting strength (females)

(Appendix 5d). Correlation coefficients for all 6 measurements can be found in Appendix 5e.

Maximum opening strength (knurled lids)

70
Results

60
45mm lid (Nm) 65mm lid (Nm) 85mm lid (Nm)
Age Lid
Sex No. Mean SD Range Mean SD Range Mean SD Range

Age years

Age years
years texture

50
2-5 m 7 smooth 0.81 0.48 0.13 – 1.43 0.90 0.54 0.16 – 1.71 1.05 0.50 0.39 – 1.76
knurled 1.01 0.56 0.29 – 2.00 0.95 0.40 0.32 – 1.52 1.13 0.46 0.57 – 1.88

40
f 10 smooth 0.74 0.32 0.11 – 1.15 0.94 0.47 0.35 – 2.07 1.03 0.55 0.31 – 2.36
knurled 0.85 0.35 0.27 – 1.48 0.80 0.34 0.37 – 1.24 1.05 0.41 0.36 – 1.67

30
6-10 m 8 smooth 2.29 0.72 1.09 – 3.39 3.00 1.03 1.85 – 5.32 3.22 1.20 1.51 – 5.19
knurled 2.28 0.71 1.44 – 3.50 3.08 0.76 1.83 – 4.40 3.55 1.64 1.35 – 6.00
f 10 smooth 1.97 0.91 0.93 – 3.98 2.19 0.81 0.91 – 3.61 2.79 1.24 1.41 – 4.85

20
knurled 1.77 0.69 0.75 – 3.09 2.50 1.16 1.24 – 4.69 2.66 1.26 1.28 – 5.66

11-15 m 9 smooth 2.74 0.79 1.34 – 4.07 3.49 1.07 1.91 – 5.45 5.54 1.35 3.59 – 7.82

10
knurled 2.85 0.62 1.59 – 3.84 4.55 1.39 2.61 – 7.64 5.93 1.99 2.67 – 9.05
f 7 smooth 2.42 0.86 1.61 – 4.16 3.60 1.24 2.61 – 5.51 4.23 1.24 2.91 – 6.40

2-5
knurled 2.56 0.72 1.73 – 3.84 3.65 1.25 2.05 – 5.83 4.23 1.91 2.41 – 7.03

0
16-20 m 5 smooth 2.71 1.88 1.98 – 5.03 4.83 1.70 2.83 – 6.83 6.36 2.93 2.80 – 10.7

0
14

12

10
8

0
12

10
knurled 4.00 1.17 2.82 – 5.94 5.72 0.93 4.61 – 6.64 7.75 2.54 4.46 – 10.7 Strength (Nm) Strength (Nm)
f 5 smooth 3.50 0.70 2.84 – 4.35 4.23 0.92 2.91 – 5.15 5.22 0.44 4.46 – 5.53
knurled 3.75 0.71 2.82 – 4.48 4.50 0.95 3.10 – 5.48 5.76 0.84 4.85 – 7.11

21-30 m 8 smooth 3.42 1.29 1.45 – 4.81 5.79 1.54 3.02 – 7.26 6.87 1.95 3.49 – 8.97
knurled 4.22 1.42 2.32 – 6.22 6.33 1.92 3.24 – 7.91 7.65 2.17 4.19 – 9.99
f 9 smooth 3.19 0.99 1.48 – 4.12 4.51 0.87 3.16 – 6.05 6.05 1.44 4.30 – 8.47
knurled 3.66 0.80 2.41 – 4.76 4.65 0.93 3.02 – 6.34 5.96 0.99 4.61 – 7.32

85mm smooth lod

45mm smooth lid
65mm smooth lid

45mm knurled lid

65mm knurled lid
85mm knurled lid
31-50 m 5 smooth 4.30 1.42 2.77 – 6.65 6.12 1.14 4.61 – 7.53 8.85 1.57 6.83 – 11.0

Older adultdata

Older adultdata
knurled 5.14 1.67 3.75 – 7.21 7.94 1.67 5.29 – 11.5 9.79 1.40 7.87 – 11.5
f 13 smooth 3.43 1.27 1.63 – 5.39 4.45 1.71 2.07 – 7.62 5.84 2.09 2.88 – 10.2

Adultdata

Adultdata
45mm jar
65mm jar
85mm jar
knurled 3.63 1.27 1.29 – 5.76 4.75 1.72 1.22 – 6.93 5.86 1.83 2.44 – 8.52

Childata

Childata
51-60 m 4 smooth 3.47 0.52 3.05 – 4.21 4.80 0.72 3.88 – 5.51 7.51 1.28 6.03 – 8.71
knurled 4.24 0.55 3.57 – 4.91 5.61 0.50 4.91 – 6.13 8.28 1.28 6.98 – 10.0
f 5 smooth 2.79 1.06 1.91 – 3.99 4.04 1.51 2.43 – 5.88 5.38 2.10 2.80 – 7.70
knurled 3.49 1.44 2.02 – 5.74 5.00 1.44 3.07 – 7.07 6.06 1.64 3.83 – 8.32

61-70 m 5 smooth 4.35 1.08 2.68 – 5.62 6.32 1.03 4.59 – 7.10 7.29 2.09 3.80 – 8.97
knurled 5.02 0.87 3.94 – 6.16 7.25 1.17 5.45 – 8.61 7.86 2.01 4.51 – 9.52

90
f 9 smooth 2.40 0.62 1.52 – 3.28 3.27 0.76 2.09 – 4.72 4.32 1.15 2.93 – 5.87

71-80
knurled 2.84 0.46 2.09 – 3.61 3.50 0.58 2.94 – 4.88 4.89 1.28 3.36 – 6.77

80
71-80 m 8 smooth 3.54 1.50 2.31 – 6.88 5.11 1.61 2.96 – 7.44 6.01 1.99 3.21 – 8.54

61-70
knurled 4.11 1.33 2.91 – 7.03 5.51 1.43 3.74 – 8.12 7.23 2.18 4.63 – 10.1
f 12 smooth 2.10 0.54 1.38 – 3.12 3.04 0.59 2.01 – 4.02 3.72 0.91 2.11 – 4.93

Mean maximum opening strength (males)

Maximum opening strength (smooth lids)

70
knurled 2.44 0.58 1.63 – 3.57 3.55 0.76 2.21 – 4.64 3.96 1.35 1.65 – 6.27

51-60
81-90 f 5 smooth 1.54 0.70 0.57 – 2.53 2.71 1.03 1.97 – 4.46 3.09 1.09 0.65 – 3.97

60
knurled 1.86 0.85 1.46 – 4.24 2.61 1.35 0.41 – 2.57 3.34 1.17 1.73 – 4.65

31-50

50
Age years

Age years
21-30

40
16-20

30
11-15

20
6-10

10
2-5

0
8

0
12

10

14

12

10
Strength (Nm) Strength (Nm)

28 29
6. Push and pull strength Subject numbers
Description Subjects were measured in 2 experimental sessions: the first measured pulling strength on
the convex knob, and the second pushing and pulling strength on the cylindrical bar. Around
Maximum static pushing and pulling force using 1 and 2 hands on a cylindrical bar and a
145 subjects were measured in each session, although not all subjects attended both sessions.
convex knob (1 handed pull only), exerted for five seconds, in Newtons (N).
Session 1
Method
The subject stands in front of the measuring device and adopts a free posture. A static Age (years) Male Female Total

pushing or pulling force is exerted on a cylindrical bar (pulling only on the knob) using 1 2-5 8 8 16
(dominant) and 2 hands (i.e. the handle doesn’t move). Subjects are instructed to build up 6-10 5 10 15
to their maximum strength in the first few seconds and to maintain maximum strength for 11-15 12 5 17

a further few seconds. 16-20 8 8 16

21-30 7 7 14
Handle type and size
31-50 7 17 24

A cylindrical bar (diameter 20mm, length 300mm), orientated vertically and horizontally, 51-60 5 6 11

and a round, convex knob (diameter 40mm) (1 handed-pull only). Both handles were 61-70 4 7 11

positioned at elbow height. 71-80 7 9 16

81-90 0 4 4

Total 63 81 144

Session 2

Age (years) Male Female Total

2-5 12 9 21

6-10 8 11 19

11-15 9 6 15

16-20 6 6 12

21-30 5 9 14
Convex knob Vertical bar
31-50 6 11 17

51-60 3 6 9

61-70 5 9 14

71-80 7 12 19

81-90 0 5 5

Total 61 84 145

Anthropometric variables (stature, weight, elbow height, hand length and hand breadth) for
all subjects can be found in Appendix 6a.

Horizontal bar Experimental trial: Pushing with 1 hand (vertical bar)

30 31
Analysis Results
Effect of sex Convex knob (1 handed pull)
For most pushing and pulling actions, no significant differences were found between males Age (years) Sex No. Mean (N) SD (N) Range (N)
and females aged between 2 and 20 years. However, in adults aged 21 years and over,
2-5 m 8 59.65 22.32 27.30 - 72.80
males in general were significantly stronger than females (Appendix 6b). f 8 76.43 34.84 49.50 - 115.80

6-10 m 5 141.02 27.95 104.20 - 168.30

Effect of age f 10 141.11 60.99 64.40 - 268.60

11-15 m 12 232.83 91.79 67.00 - 372.60

For both pushing and pulling, maximum strength increases significantly throughout f 5 177.74 55.27 93.00 - 233.20
childhood (2-15 years), it peaks in adulthood, and then decreases with age from around 50 16-20 m 8 321.10 103.44 213.60 - 523.60
years. For most exertions, no significant differences in maximum strength (pushing and f 8 244.07 84.35 184.00 - 405.40

21-30 m 7 311.92 103.99 210.00 - 436.60

pulling) were found in subjects aged between 11 and 70 years. In general, however, adults f 7 221.61 93.87 141.80 - 400.60
were found to be stronger than older adults (although not significantly), who in turn were 31-50 m 7 285.94 70.38 198.10 - 374.40
stronger than children (Appendix 6c). f 17 220.24 60.51 81.60 - 344.20

51-60 m 5 265.10 90.48 130.50 - 358.90

Effect of handle type and orientation, direction of force and number of hands used f 6 163.73 47.51 111.20 - 216.70

61-70 m 4 267.85 104.97 159.80 - 404.30

Both males and females exerted their maximum strength when pushing and pulling (both f 7 162.35 29.99 138.50 - 209.90

horizontally and vertically) on the cylindrical bar with 2 hands, as opposed to only 1 hand 71-80 m 7 309.05 41.60 246.90 - 353.30
f 9 178.95 18.90 145.70 - 213.50
(Appendix 6d).
81-90 f 4 138.57 37.63 109.00 - 193.70

No significant differences due to handle orientation were found for pulling with 1 or 2
Mean maximum pulling strength (convex knob)
hands. However, when pushing with both 1 and 2 hands, subjects generally exerted
350
significantly higher forces when the cylindrical bar was orientated vertically. Differences Female
300 Male
due to the direction of force were also found, however, only for 1 handed strength in a
horizontal orientation, where pulling generated significantly higher forces than pushing. 250 Childata

Strength (N)
No significant differences in maximum strength were found between pushing and pulling 200
Adultdata
Older adultdata
with 2 hands in a horizontal orientation, or pushing and pulling with 1 and 2 hands in a 150
vertical orientation. Pulling with 1 hand on the cylindrical bar generated higher forces than
100
pulling on the convex knob. Correlation coefficients for all measurements can be found in
50
Appendix 6e.
0
2-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90
Age years

Maximum pulling strength (convex knob)

600
Childata

500 Adultdata
Older adultdata

400

Strength (N)
300

200

100

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Age years

32 33
Cylindrical bar - 1 handed strength Cylindrical bar - 2 handed strength

Push (N) Pull (N) push (N) pull (N)

Age (years) Sex No. Orientation Mean SD Range Mean Sd Range Age (years) Sex No. Orientation Mean SD Range Mean SD Range

2-5 m 12 vertical 79.26 30.38 19.33 – 139.39 87.14 44.06 56.11 – 169.64 2-5 m 12 vertical 86.88 55.23 63.17 – 190.16 98.11 60.17 45.91 – 229.58
horizontal 74.53 36.65 44.24 – 130.93 87.99 42.18 51.99 – 171.52 horizontal 99.64 44.92 63.65 – 211.51 106.65 59.89 56.54 – 268.41
f 9 vertical 45.83 20.06 22.15 – 76.95 58.68 33.45 31.66 – 123.65 f 9 vertical 59.49 24.20 29.00 – 101.93 80.08 43.69 23.75 – 158.33
horizontal 48.12 15.80 27.39 – 74.53 43.22 34.62 35.41 – 114.60 horizontal 72.07 17.74 53.58 – 101.93 61.78 27.02 33.55 – 122.14

6-10 m 8 vertical 218.26 110.19 125.29 – 455.26 242.40 89.05 131.94 –420.34 6-10 m 8 vertical 256.63 116.50 171.62 – 508.04 218.08 119.80 149.40 – 381.51
horizontal 229.14 111.01 120.46 – 429.07 232.97 102.61 111.21 – 381.13 horizontal 270.89 121.87 145.84 – 458.48 279.72 95.68 144.76 – 410.16
f 11 vertical 206.49 94.76 87.42 – 371.46 174.40 64.59 86.70 – 294.80 f 11 vertical 222.13 87.88 104.34 – 412.55 193.87 89.09 108.57 – 372.84
horizontal 194.59 88.84 74.53 – 375.49 175.09 75.65 88.21 – 365.30 horizontal 219.53 91.82 132.55 – 367.03 174.40 81.24 106.31 – 343.05

11-15 m 9 vertical 338.87 124.04 145.84 – 532.61 355.41 123.48 180.57 – 539.09 11-15 m 9 vertical 336.81 153.77 210.62 – 463.31 364.88 124.20 110.45 – 529.29
horizontal 297.77 113.64 108.37 – 448.81 339.41 104.57 194.90 – 540.97 horizontal 321.19 174.85 188.05 – 611.58 399.90 132.94 210.73 – 622.78
f 6 vertical 260.42 30.95 219.97 – 287.66 296.87 45.43 214.50 – 352.10 f 6 vertical 318.41 65.54 258.65 – 441.16 315.85 91.59 191.50 – 440.32
horizontal 240.99 80.17 181.29 – 391.60 283.74 45.05 216.76 – 344.94 horizontal 313.98 108.75 234.07 – 517.30 374.22 113.52 189.62 – 499.13

16-20 m 6 vertical 545.77 126.22 379.51 – 768.27 438.62 82.52 309.50 – 542.48 16-20 m 6 vertical 624.27 119.80 507.23 – 783.62 604.31 119.78 465.58 – 743.79
horizontal 441.58 172.67 144.63 – 618.83 516.72 92.88 398.09 – 627.68 horizontal 553.50 223.51 225.21 – 914.58 484.17 112.00 324.20 – 661.66
f 6 vertical 378.71 158.02 230.85 – 577.33 356.75 136.07 248.05 – 595.26 f 6 vertical 429.07 131.36 314.65 – 677.25 438.94 175.81 271.80 – 675.18
horizontal 362.32 74.82 246.56 – 483.06 416.38 138.03 303.09 – 646.53 horizontal 413.16 161.00 211.91 – 663.55 431.02 146.79 291.78 – 690.26

21-30 m 5 vertical 471.82 208.03 243.34 – 718.95 386.56 161.72 220.91 – 608.83 21-30 m 5 vertical 598.38 234.16 363.80 – 931.57 510.29 120.82 372.46 – 668.40
horizontal 408.80 188.86 255.42 – 695.94 451.70 164.63 295.18 – 668.02 horizontal 556.91 277.83 311.02 – 938.15 487.67 146.26 270.30 – 652.19
f 9 vertical 356.10 108.11 217.55 – 573.30 361.23 91.51 192.64 – 525.52 f 9 vertical 341.02 144.62 259.76 – 486.68 379.79 93.27 267.66 – 527.78
horizontal 255.20 107.73 191.29 – 369.04 340.58 67.97 259.74 – 465.95 horizontal 324.59 52.36 255.83 – 416.58 315.87 137.59 248.38 – 450.12

31-50 m 6 vertical 481.11 173.02 353.33 – 825.11 433.34 73.73 346.45 – 544.37 31-50 m 6 vertical 613.12 128.71 493.13 – 825.11 467.90 68.40 396.59 – 583.95
horizontal 477.30 213.75 408.48 – 647.03 457.22 99.37 290.65 – 543.61 horizontal 579.15 121.61 410.94 – 707.46 467.40 28.69 433.15 – 510.81
f 11 vertical 310.98 89.59 159.54 – 451.23 343.91 99.02 195.65 – 550.78 f 11 vertical 400.06 82.09 243.34 – 519.32 364.85 166.04 256.33 – 699.69
horizontal 294.87 96.29 189.75 – 460.09 314.47 136.42 215.91 – 500.26 horizontal 347.54 128.07 157.12 – 551.95 360.98 108.68 256.72 – 614.49

51-60 m 3 vertical 278.39 13.67 268.69 – 288.06 383.52 242.78 213.75 – 661.61 51-60 m 3 vertical 430.95 145.71 335.60 – 598.68 438.43 200.51 289.90 – 666.51
horizontal 304.98 113.24 221.58 – 433.90 347.83 166.40 233.35 – 538.71 horizontal 395.76 111.71 320.69 – 524.15 399.60 157.53 282.36 – 578.67
f 6 vertical 258.31 107.95 168.00 – 442.37 258.29 114.18 144.76 – 464.44 f 6 vertical 299.74 90.11 211.91 – 448.00 297.25 103.34 199.42 – 461.05
horizontal 191.57 134.58 158.33 – 419.80 278.28 118.58 187.73 – 486.69 horizontal 285.84 83.35 193.38 – 414.97 333.13 77.02 187.73 – 400.73

61-70 m 5 vertical 436.32 210.21 186.13 – 684.50 476.89 212.16 189.24 – 757.37 61-70 m 5 vertical 472.66 179.39 215.54 – 658.31 529.81 217.22 220.16 – 747.94
horizontal 396.68 189.82 209.09 – 608.35 456.98 221.50 255.97 – 771.69 horizontal 486.36 196.15 225.21 – 705.05 468.59 171.48 271.05 – 722.68
f 9 vertical 202.87 30.97 157.12 – 251.80 216.18 28.56 176.80 – 251.07 f 9 vertical 255.02 35.53 205.47 – 313.04 247.30 50.59 175.67 – 340.42
horizontal 186.98 35.80 138.59 – 249.79 204.95 54.38 157.20 – 316.29 horizontal 237.88 61.27 177.67 – 354.94 262.04 105.35 136.09 – 487.06

71-80 m 7 vertical 244.09 60.21 145.03 – 320.69 331.85 99.73 234.48 – 460.67 71-80 m 7 vertical 320.64 80.27 194.59 – 421.82 359.59 102.44 203.57 – 481.41
horizontal 251.63 55.33 188.95 – 341.24 265.34 151.73 205.81 – 490.08 horizontal 320.52 83.91 233.27 – 477.82 331.31 79.67 219.78 – 454.27
f 12 vertical 197.28 84.90 100.72 – 406.11 218.27 82.62 105.17 – 430.52 f 12 vertical 242.60 87.66 130.93 – 453.24 253.65 85.39 117.24 – 449.74
horizontal 185.59 68.64 104.75 – 340.03 219.53 82.72 96.50 – 436.17 horizontal 216.45 65.55 101.52 – 373.87 234.39 92.67 119.50 – 412.42

81-90 f 5 vertical 126.98 43.98 64.46 – 182.91 149.73 38.93 106.68 – 202.06 81-90 f 5 vertical 172.67 57.61 92.66 – 254.22 185.78 46.28 140.61 – 249.18
horizontal 123.36 30.60 98.30 – 171.62 165.57 63.52 106.68 – 274.07 horizontal 164.78 67.20 87.42 – 266.30 165.04 45.44 121.01 – 236.74

34 35
 Strength (N) Strength (N) Strength (N)

1000
200

400

600

800

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

100

200

300

400

500

600

700
0

0
0

2-5

2-5
10

6-10

6-10
Mean maximum strength horizontal handle (males)
APPENDIX 1 – FINGER PUSH STRENGTH

Mean maximum strength vertical handle (males)

20

11-15

11-15
1a - Anthropometric characteristics of subjects
Maximum strength - vertical handle
30

16-20

16-20
Stature (mm) Weight (kg) Elbow height (mm) Hand length (mm) Hand breadth (mm)
Age (years) Sex No. Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
Age years

Age years

Age years
40

21-30

21-30
2-5 m 9 1034.55 105.50 17.80 3.04 623.33 76.80 110.77 13.00 55.75 5.17
f 8 1128.75 108.90 19.10 4.62 673.75 76.30 118.50 15.00 54.25 6.62
50

31-50

31-50
6-10 m 5 1366.00 86.40 30.80 5.39 824.00 53.60 145.40 12.10 65.8 6.53
f 10 1379.50 127.90 30.74 8.49 864.00 86.30 143.70 13.80 64.00 5.05
60

51-60

51-60
11-15 m 12 1644.58 138.60 52.39 16.30 1015.83 85.70 169.75 15.6 77.66 7.19
f 5 1546.00 80.40 47.16 12.70 964.00 63.40 157.80 8.28 68.40 5.31
70

61-70

61-70
16-20 m 6 1822.50 69.20 75.90 15.20 1131.66 36.50 190.50 14.10 87.33 6.37
f 8 1751.25 78.10 64.80 11.90 1103.75 48.30 179.87 14.40 77.75 6.20
80

21-30 m 10 1837.00 69.60 80.26 28.40 1147.00 49.00 187.70 9.06 84.00 5.67
71-80

71-80
f 7 1677.85 66.20 65.48 12.90 1058.57 35.30 172.57 7.29 81.00 7.89
90

31-50 m 7 1814.28 105.80 84.37 14.00 1140.00 64.80 190.71 7.38 88.14 5.87
f 16 1670.93 58.80 72.23 15.70 1054.37 47.10 174.18 8.00 75.73 3.80

51-60 m 5 1791.00 49.50 91.00 16.20 1120.00 33.90 192.80 7.39 88.00 0.70
f 6 1654.16 61.10 68.03 13.40 1035.00 44.10 176.66 8.47 77.50 3.39
Childata

Childata

Childata
Older adultdata
Adultdata

Pull 2 hands
Pull 1 hand
Push 2 hands
Push 1 hand

Older adultdata
Adultdata

Pull 2 hands
Pull 1 hand
Push 2 hands
Push 1 hand

Older adultdata
Adultdata

Pull 2 hands
Pull 1 hand
Push 2 hands
Push 1 hand
61-70 m 3 1835.00 52.60 86.66 15.00 1146.66 46.10 195.66 19.00 90.00 4.35
f 8 1631.87 68.20 66.85 9.39 1013.75 51.80 176.87 10.90 77.87 2.85

71-80 m 8 1767.50 42.00 82.32 4.72 1082.5 24.90 189.75 8.41 88.25 4.20
f 11 1643.18 53.20 68.98 8.29 1023.63 25.00 175.45 8.95 76.09 2.30

81-90 f 4 1557.5 60.70 60.40 12.50 98.00 52.20 171.50 12.10 78.00 4.00

Strength (N) Strength (N) Strength (N) 1b – Differences between males and females (t-test)
1000

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

100

200

300

400

500

600

700
200

400

600

800

Index finger
0

0
0
0

6-10

2-5

Forwards Downwards
10

Age (years) Sex No. T DF Sig T DF Sig

6-10

Key:
Mean maximum strength horizontal handle (females)
11-15

Mean maximum strength vertical handle (females)

2-5 m 9 -1.253 15 0.229 -0.729 15 0.477 t = t value from t-test
20

f 8
1-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90
Maximum strength - horizontal handle

df = degrees of freedom
16-20

6-10 m 5 0.846 13 0.413 0.142 13 0.89

sig = level of statistical significance
30

f 10
(* denotes significant difference
21-30

11-15 m 12 -0.29 15 0.977 0.314 15 0.758 at 0.05 level)

f 5
Age years

Age years
Age years
40

31-50

16-20 m 6 2.322 12 0.039* 2.328 12 0.038*

f 8
50

51-60

21-30 m 10 3.341 15 0.004* 3.132 15 0.007*

f 7
60

61-70

31-50 m 7 4.142 21 0.000* 4.185 21 0.000*

f 16
70

71-80

51-60 m 5 2.632 9 0.027* 2.96 9 0.016*

f 6
80

81-90

61-70 m 3 4.254 9 0.002* 3.401 9 0.007*

f 8
90

71-80 m 8 3.686 17 0.002* 4.071 17 0.001*

f 11
Childata

Childata

Childata
Older adultdata
Adultdata

Pull 2 hands
Pull 1 hand
Push 2 hands
Push 1 hand

Older adultdata
Adultdata

Pull 2 hands
Pull 1 hand
Push 2 hands
Push 1 hand
Older adultdata
Adultdata

Pull 2 hands
Pull 1 hand
Push 2 hands
Push 1 hand

36 37
Thumb 1d – Differences between finger type and direction of force (Paired samples test)

Key:
Forwards Downwards Key: Action t df sig
Age (years) Sex No. T DF Sig T DF Sig if = pushing forwards with the index finger
t = t value from t-test
id – if -0.268 147 0.789 id = pushing downwards with the index finger
2-5 m 9 -0.626 15.000 0.541 -0.905 15.000 0.380 df = degrees of freedom
f 8 if – thf -15.173 147 0.000* thf = pushing forwards with the thumb
sig = level of statistical significance
6-10 m 5 1.310 13.000 0.213 0.754 13.000 0.464 thd = pushing downwards with the thumb
(* denotes significant difference if – thd -16.504 147 0.000*
f 10 at 0.05 level) t = value from t-test
id – thf -14.790 147 0.000*
11-15 m 12 1.145 15.000 0.270 0.999 15.000 0.334 df = degrees of freedom
f 5 id – thd -17.214 147 0.000*
sig = level of statistical significance (* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level)
16-20 m 6 1.824 12.000 0.093 3.420 12.000 0.005* thd - thf 0.535 147 0.594
f 8

21-30 m 10 2.835 15.000 0.013* 2.220 15.000 0.042*

f 7 1e – Correlation between measurements (Pearson Correlation)
31-50 m 7 3.706 21.000 0.001* 5.396 21.000 0.000*
f 16
if id thf thd
Key:
51-60 m 5 2.517 9.000 0.033* 1.598 9.000 0.145
f 6 if 1.000 0.932 0.861 0.886 if = pushing forwards with the index finger
61-70 m 3 2.469 9.000 0.036* 3.401 9.000 0.008* id = pushing downwards with the index finger
id 0.932 1.000 0.837 0.898
f 8 thf = pushing forwards with the thumb
thf 0.861 0.837 1.000 0.920
71-80 m 8 4.880 17.000 0.000* 3.582 17.00 0.002* thd = pushing downwards with the thumb
f 11 thd 0.886 0.898 0.920 1.000

Thumb

Age (years) 2-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90

2-5 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻

6-10 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ X

11-15 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ X X X
not thf not thf not thf

16-20 X X X ✻ ✻ ✻*
not id notid

21-30 X X ✻ ✻ ✻
not id

31-50 X ✻ ✻ ✻
not id

51-60 X X ✻
not if, thf

61-70 X X

71-80 X

81-90

* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level Key:

if = pushing forwards with the index finger
id = pushing downwards with the index finger
thf = pushing forwards with the thumb
thd = pushing downwards with the thumb

38 39
APPENDIX 2 – PINCH-PULL STRENGTH

2a - Anthropometric characteristics of subjects Pulp pinch

Stature (mm) Weight (kg) Elbow height (mm) Hand length (mm) Hand breadth (mm) 2mm 20mm 40mm
Age (years) Sex No. Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Age (years) Sex No. T DF Sig T DF Sig T DF Sig

2-5 m 8 1055.00 111.8 18.75 3.44 618.75 69.7 112.87 10.9 56.42 5.85 2-5 m 8 0.463 11 0.652 1.230 11 0.245 2.058 11 0.064
f 5 1050.00 126.4 16.36 2.95 624.00 74.3 113.00 17.7 52.80 5.55 f 5
6-10 m 7 1369.28 98.1 32.85 8.31 841.42 83.3 143.28 11.0 62.14 10.9 6-10 m 7 0.460 14 0.653 1.571 14 0.138 1.615 14 0.129
f 9 1345.55 139.1 27.88 9.25 834.44 96.1 139.66 15.4 62.22 5.73 f 9
11-15 m 10 1623.00 119.5 49.11 13.4 1004.00 78.9 167.70 14.0 76.10 6.80 11-15 m 10 0.910 15 0.377 1.304 15 0.212 1.255 15 0.229
f 7 1555.00 104.5 45.71 12.5 991.42 56.1 161.57 11.6 69.00 4.76 f 7
16-20 m 11 1808.18 57.6 73.07 12.5 1114.54 43.2 188.18 10.4 85.00 4.35 16-20 m 11 1.001 16 0.332 0.977 16 0.343 0.660 16 0.519
f 7 1742.85 64.7 61.54 11.0 1094.28 43.5 176.71 12.9 75.14 6.30 f 7
21-30 m 8 1840.62 64.3 82.00 31.5 1145.00 33.8 187.50 7.80 84.37 5.90 21-30 m 8 1.157 15 0.265 3.038 15 0.008* 3.399 15 0.004*
f 9 1702.22 69.5 67.93 16.5 1082.22 41.4 170.77 7.52 78.50 8.41 f 9
31-50 m 5 1795.00 109.2 81.28 5.55 1134.00 69.8 190.40 7.30 88.60 6.54 31-50 m 5 0.970 16 0.346 1.514 16 0.149 3.021 16 0.008*
f 13 1655.76 70.1 69.49 16.6 1037.69 46.7 171.76 9.91 74.08 3.23 f 13
51-60 m 5 1791.00 49.2 91.00 16.2 1134.00 32.0 192.80 7.39 88.00 0.70 51-60 m 5 0.587 9 0.571 0.737 9 0.480 0.805 9 0.442
f 6 1663.33 70.8 67.86 13.6 1040.00 54.4 184.50 13.3 78.83 4.62 f 6
61-70 m 4 1827.50 43.4 84.15 15.2 1130.00 33.6 193.00 16.4 90.25 3.59 61-70 m 4 3.535 11 0.005* 5.057 11 0.000* 4.191 11 0.002*
f 9 1624.44 65.9 64.73 10.8 1003.33 42.4 175.44 11.1 77.44 2.96 f 9
71-80 m 8 1770.00 44.1 82.32 4.72 1090.00 28.2 189.75 8.41 88.25 4.20 71-80 m 8 3.601 17 0.002* 2.931 17 0.009* 3.053 17 0.007*
f 11 1653.18 51.3 68.58 8.86 1035.45 34.4 176.81 7.76 76.81 2.13 f 11
81-90 f 4 1555.00 58.0 60.40 12.5 97.00 47.6 171.50 12.1 78.00 4.00
Key:
t = value from t-test
df = degrees of freedom

2b – Differences between males and females (t-test) sig = level of statistical significance (* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level)

Chuck pinch
2c – Differences between age groups (t-test)
2mm 20mm 40mm
Age (years) Sex No. T DF Sig T DF Sig T DF Sig
Age (years) 2-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90
2-5 m 8 1.028 11 0.326 1.160 11 0.273 2.579 11 0.026*
f 5
2-5 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻
6-10 m 7 1.560 14 0.141 1.035 14 0.318 1.383 14 0.188
6-10 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ X
f 9
not c20 not c20
11-15 m 10 0.955 15 0.355 1.448 15 0.168 1.516 15 0.150
11-15 ✻ ✻ ✻ X X X X
f 7
not c20, c40 not c20, c40 not thf
16-20 m 11 1.454 16 0.165 1.143 16 0.270 1.509 16 0.151
16-20 X X ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻*
f 7
not c20,
21-30 m 8 1.401 15 0.182 2.544 15 0.022* 3.353 15 0.004* p20, p40
f 9
21-30 X X ✻ ✻ ✻
31-50 m 5 2.662 16 0.017* 3.463 16 0.003* 2.886 16 0.011* not p2,
f 13 p20, p40

51-60 m 5 1.892 9 0.091 2.228 9 0.053 1.533 9 0.160 31-50 X ✻ ✻ ✻

f 6 not p40 not p40

61-70 m 4 4.935 11 0.000* 4.885 11 0.000* 6.500 11 0.000* 51-60 X X X

f 9 not c2

71-80 m 8 4.863 17 0.000* 5.024 17 0.000* 5.027 17 0.000* 61-70 X X

f 11
71-80 X

Key: * denotes significant difference at 0.05 level Key:

t = value from t-test c2 = chuck pinch at 2mm p2 = pulp pinch at 2mm
df = degrees of freedom c20 = chuck pinch at 20mm p20 = pulp pinch at 20mm
sig = level of statistical significance (* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level) c40 = chuck pinch at 40mm p40 = pulp pinch at 40mm

40 41
 APPENDIX 3 – HAND GRIP STRENGTH

2d – Differences between type of pinch and pinch distance (Paired samples test) 3a - Anthropometric characteristics of subjects

Action t df sig Stature (mm) Weight (kg) Elbow height (mm) Hand length (mm) Hand breadth (mm)
Key: Age (years) Sex No. Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
c2 – c20 -10.32 144 0.000* c2 = chuck pinch at 2mm 2-5 m 8 1041.25 119.60 18.00 3.45 617.50 76.20 103.56 39.20 57.71 7.34
c2 – c40 -14.65 145 0.000* c20 = chuck pinch at 20mm f 9 1018.88 71.31 16.36 2.32 620.00 78.10 106.00 8.15 53.88 4.37
c40 = chuck pinch at 40mm 6-10 m 7 1391.42 78.60 31.48 10.80 857.14 53.40 143.85 10.30 63.14 10.60
c2 – p2 6.95 145 0.000*
p2 = pulp pinch at 2mm f 11 1375.90 128.60 29.34 9.13 861.81 88.50 141.63 14.50 63.09 5.55
c2 – p20 -0.09 145 0.922
p20 = pulp pinch at 20mm 11-15 m 10 1631.00 116.30 50.23 12.70 1026.00 57.50 167.60 12.80 76.9 6.47
c2 – p40 -3.78 145 0.000* f 10 1586.50 90.70 50.54 12.70 1006.00 55.60 164.70 10.30 72.00 5.61
p40 = pulp pinch at 40mm
c20 – c40 -9.41 144 0.000* 16-20 m 9 1829.44 61.40 78.11 11.50 1124.44 58.80 192.66 13.10 86.77 5.28
t = value from t-test
f 7 1747.85 76.30 67.45 12.70 1110.00 56.20 182.85 12.60 79.14 6.09
c20 – p2 12.93 144 0.000* df = degrees of freedom
21-30 m 7 1815.71 82.20 84.62 33.40 1147.14 50.80 189.28 7.84 86.71 5.79
c20 – p20 9.35 144 0.000* sig = level of statistical significance (* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level) f 7 1685.00 72.80 69.51 9.63 1051.42 40.10 170.00 7.89 79.16 9.21
c20 – p40 4.37 144 0.000* 31-50 m 6 1783.33 98.50 79.56 6.50 1111.66 79.80 188.83 7.57 88.16 5.94
c40 – p2 15.87 145 0.000* f 11 1663.18 77.00 72.16 16.50 1044.54 53.30 173.00 9.33 74.70 3.19

c40 – p20 15.58 145 0.000* 51-60 m 4 1780.00 53.50 93.65 17.50 1137.50 48.50 193.00 8.52 88.00 0.81
f 6 1650.00 48.50 68.46 13.10 1021.66 37.10 178.33 6.47 76.16 4.16
c40 – p40 11.72 145 0.000*
61-70 m 6 1797.50 51.70 83.45 11.90 1118.33 44.00 189.00 14.50 88.16 4.66
p2 – p20 -6.77 145 0.000* f 9 1622.77 66.10 64.73 10.80 1000.00 47.90 175.44 11.10 76.77 3.86

p2 – p40 -8.73 145 0.000* 71-80 m 8 1763.12 48.40 82.32 4.72 1082.50 24.90 189.75 8.41 88.28 4.20
f 12 1643.75 53.40 67.85 8.82 1025.83 29.30 175.58 8.55 76.41 2.46
p20 – p40 -4.59 145 0.000*
81-90 f 6 1581.66 64.30 57.86 10.40 986.66 40.80 168.83 13.30 76.83 4.21

3b – Differences between males and females (t-test)

2e – Correlation between measurements (Pearson Correlation) 1 handed strength
30mm 50mm 70mm
c2 c20 c40 p2 p20 p40
Key: Age (years) Sex No. T DF Sig T DF Sig T DF Sig

c2 1.000 0.918 0.886 0.891 0.893 0.865 c2 = chuck pinch at 2mm 2-5 m 8 0.872 15 0.397 1.272 15 0.223 2.468 15 0.026*
c20 = chuck pinch at 20mm f 9
c20 0.918 1.000 0.933 0.845 0.900 0.869
c40 = chuck pinch at 40mm 6-10 m 7 1.754 16 0.099 1.287 16 0.216 1.030 16 0.318
c40 0.886 0.933 1.000 0.802 0.901 0.890 f 11
p2 = pulp pinch at 2mm
p2 0.891 0.845 0.802 1.000 0.886 0.839 11-15 m 10 1.972 18 0.064 1.583 18 0.131 1.617 18 0.123
p20 = pulp pinch at 20mm
f 10
p20 0.893 0.900 0.901 0.886 1.000 0.915
p40 = pulp pinch at 40mm
16-20 m 9 4.528 14 0.000* 3.005 14 0.009* 4.435 14 0.001*
p40 0.865 0.869 0.890 0.839 0.915 1.000
f 7

21-30 m 7 3.673 12 0.003* 5.373 12 0.000* 3.928 12 0.002*

f 7

31-50 m 6 6.089 15 0.000* 7.742 15 0.000* 9.837 15 0.000*

f 11

51-60 m 4 3.052 8 0.016* 4.632 8 0.002* 4.560 8 0.002*

f 6

61-70 m 6 4.677 13 0.000* 6.464 13 0.000* 5.943 13 0.000*

f 9

71-80 m 8 5.486 18 0.000* 5.957 18 0.000* 7.654 18 0.000*

f 12

Key:
t = value from t-test
df = degrees of freedom
sig = level of statistical significance (* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level)

42 43
2 handed strength 3d – Differences between handle size and number of hands used
30mm 50mm 70mm
(Paired samples test)
Age (years) Sex No. T DF Sig T DF Sig T DF Sig
Key:
2-5 m 8 0.860 15 0.403 1.161 15 0.264 2.077 15 0.055 Action t df sig
f 9 s1 = 1 handed strength on small (30mm) handle
6-10 m 7 1.940 16 0.070 1.251 16 0.229 1.562 16 0.138 s1 - m1 11.133 152 0.000* s2 = 2 handed strength on small (30mm) handle
f 11 s1 – l1 9.276 152 0.000* m1 = 1 handed strength on medium (50mm) handle
11-15 m 10 1.419 18 0.173 1.984 18 0.063 1.368 18 0.188 s1 – s2 -12.126 152 0.000* m2 = 2 handed strength on medium (50mm) handle
f 10 l1 = 1 handed strength of large (70mm) handle
s1 – m2 17.448 152 0.000*
16-20 m 9 5.856 14 0.000* 5.554 14 0.000* 7.674 14 0.000* l2 = 2 handed strength on large (70mm) handle
f 7 s1 – l2 19.595 152 0.000*
t = value from t-test
21-30 m 7 2.636 12 0.022* 2.851 12 0.015* 3.406 12 0.005* m1 – l1 -1.923 152 0.000*
df = degrees of freedom
f 7
m1 – s2 -4.247 152 0.000* sig = level of statistical significance (* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level)
31-50 m 6 2.258 15 0.039* 1.927 15 0.073 1.634 15 0.123
f 11 m1 – m2 -15.037 152 0.000*

51-60 m 4 2.752 8 0.025* 3.154 8 0.014* 3.840 8 0.005* m1 – l2 4.561 152 0.000*
f 6 l1 – s2 9.276 152 0.000*
61-70 m 6 3.987 13 0.002* 5.458 13 0.000* 7.685 13 0.000* l1 – m2 -14.650 152 0.000*
f 9
l1 – l2 -18.41 152 0.000*
71-80 m 8 4.819 18 0.000* 6.665 18 0.000* 6.441 18 0.000*
f 12 s2- m2 10.709 152 0.000*

s2 – l2 13.258 152 0.000*

Key:
t = value from t-test m2 – l1 4.561 152 0.000*

df = degrees of freedom
sig = level of statistical significance (* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level)

3e – Correlation between measurements (Pearson Correlation)

3c – Differences between age groups (t-test)

age (years) 2-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 s1 m1 l1 s2 m2 l2 Key:
2-5 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ s1 1.000 0.925 0.906 0.865 0.829 0.865
s1 = 1 handed strength on small (30mm) handle

6-10 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻
s2 = 2 handed strength on small (30mm) handle
m1 0.925 1.000 0.957 0.831 0.891 0.912
not s2 not s2 not s2, m2 m1 = 1 handed strength on medium (50mm) handle
l1 0.906 0.957 1.000 0.818 0.869 0.916
11-15 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ X X ✻ m2 = 2 handed strength on medium (50mm) handle
not s2, m2, l2 not s2, m2, l2 not s2 s2 0.865 0.831 0.818 1.000 0.877 0.881
l1 = 1 handed strength of large (70mm) handle
16-20 X X X ✻ ✻ ✻ m2 0.829 0.891 0.869 0.877 1.000 0.937 l2 = 2 handed strength on large (70mm) handle
21-30 X X X ✻ ✻ l2 0.865 0.912 0.916 0.881 0.937 1.000
not s2 not s1, s2

31-50 X X ✻ ✻
not s1 not s1, s2

51-60 X ✻ ✻
not s1, l1

61-70 X ✻

71-80 ✻

* denotes significant Key:

difference at 0.05 level s1 = 1 handed strength on small (30mm) handle m2 = 2 handed strength on medium (50mm) handle
s2 = 2 handed strength on small (30mm) handle l1 = 1 handed strength of large (70mm) handle
m1 = 1 handed strength on medium (50mm) handle l2 = 2 handed strength on large (70mm) handle

44 45
APPENDIX 4 – WRIST-TWISTING STRENGTH

4a - Anthropometric characteristics of subjects 4b – Differences between males and females (t-test)

Session 1 – Vertical wrist-twisting strength Session 1 – Vertical wrist-twisting strength
Stature (mm) Weight (kg) Elbow height (mm) Hand length (mm) Hand breadth (mm) Door lever Door knob Circular knob
Age (years) Sex No. Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Age (years) Sex No. T DF Sig T DF Sig T DF Sig

2-5 m 12 1060.83 113.30 18.43 3.16 625.00 74.80 113.75 13.00 57.72 6.19 2-5 m 12 0.656 17 0.521 0.883 17 0.390 0.468 17 0.646
f 7 1038.57 113.60 15.97 2.98 612.85 63.90 111.42 14.80 53.14 4.18 f 7
6-10 m 7 1423.57 58.20 36.54 5.37 877.14 41.90 149.14 6.51 68.00 3.26 6-10 m 7 1.421 16 0.175 1.649 16 0.119 2.557 16 0.021*
f 11 1348.18 125.60 28.72 8.50 831.81 90.50 139.72 12.40 62.45 5.20 f 11
11-15 m 11 1664.54 148.00 51.22 12.50 1039.09 87.30 170.09 14.70 77.45 6.40 11-15 m 11 -0.048 15 0.962 1.927 15 0.073 1.200 15 0.249
f 6 1566.66 108.30 47.93 13.50 990.00 83.10 162.16 12.10 69.66 5.39 f 6
16-20 m 6 1807.50 50.90 77.83 14.30 1136.66 35.50 189.00 8.57 87.33 3.44 16-20 m 6 2.521 12 0.027* 2.014 12 0.067 2.485 12 0.029*
f 8 1758.75 71.40 67.52 12.10 1116.25 47.40 181.37 12.70 77.50 6.82 f 8
21-30 m 7 1821.42 76.90 84.65 33.40 1128.57 49.10 188.28 8.03 86.14 6.59 21-30 m 7 4.081 12 0.002* 2.226 12 0.046* 0.803 12 0.438
f 7 1692.14 68.00 69.51 9.63 1071.42 19.10 170.00 7.89 79.16 9.21 f 7
31-50 m 5 1796.00 108.90 80.80 4.97 1108.00 62.60 190.80 6.83 88.60 6.54 31-50 m 5 2.487 16 0.024* 1.459 16 0.164 0.777 16 0.449
f 13 1653.07 73.40 69.49 16.60 1043.07 48.10 171.76 9.91 74.08 3.23 f 13
51-60 m 4 1777.50 51.20 93.65 17.50 1125 49.30 193.00 8.52 88.00 0.81 51-60 m 4 1.488 8 0.175 0.689 8 0.510 1.280 8 0.237
f 6 1685.00 93.00 71.86 13.50 1046.66 61.20 181.50 8.19 79.16 5.38 f 6
61-70 m 4 1813.75 57.90 86.52 13.00 1115.00 53.20 193.25 16.30 89.25 3.86 61-70 m 4 0.455 12 0.657 5.120 12 0.000* 1.205 12 0.252
f 10 1648.00 86.40 64.82 9.83 1014.00 57.50 176.40 10.90 78.80 5.11 f 10
71-80 m 8 1769.37 42.20 82.32 4.79 1086.25 23.20 189.75 8.41 88.25 4.20 71-80 m 8 3.130 18 0.006* 5.187 18 0.000* 3.069 18 0.007*
f 12 1641.25 57.30 67.85 8.82 1011.66 31.80 175.58 8.55 76.41 2.46 f 12
81-90 f 6 1585.00 68.30 57.86 10.40 996.66 57.50 168.83 13.30 76.83 4.21

Session 2 – Horizontal wrist-twisting strength ridged knob butterfly nut tap

age (years) sex no. t df sig t df sig t df sig
Stature (mm) Weight (kg) Elbow height (mm) Hand length (mm) Hand breadth (mm)
Age (years) Sex No. Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD 2-5 m 12 -0.830 17 0.418 0.202 17 0.842 0.916 17 0.372
f 7
2-5 m 8 1041.25 119.60 18.00 3.45 617.5 76.20 115.37 11.90 57.71 7.34
f 7 1052.85 98.60 16.31 3.46 628.57 74.20 107.85 9.99 51.57 6.07 6-10 m 7 1.026 16 0.320 1.991 16 0.064 1.671 16 0.114
f 11
6-10 m 7 1391.42 78.60 31.40 10.80 857.14 53.40 143.85 10.30 63.14 10.60
f 11 1375.90 128.60 29.34 9.13 961.81 88.50 141.63 14.50 63.09 5.55 11-15 m 11 1.389 15 0.185 1.506 15 0.153 1.182 15 0.256
f 6
11-15 m 10 1571.00 216.80 50.18 12.70 1026.00 57.50 167.60 12.80 76.90 6.47
f 10 1586.50 90.73 50.48 12.80 1006.00 55.60 164.70 10.30 72.00 5.61 16-20 m 6 3.035 12 0.010* 4.119 12 0.001* 2.544 12 0.026*
f 8
16-20 m 9 1829.44 61.40 78.11 11.50 1128.88 46.70 192.66 13.10 86.77 5.28
f 7 1747.85 76.30 67.45 12.70 1110.00 56.20 182.85 12.60 79.14 6.09 21-30 m 7 3.470 12 0.005* 3.902 12 0.002* 1.883 12 0.084
f 7
21-30 m 7 1815.71 82.20 84.62 33.40 1147.14 50.80 189.28 7.84 86.74 5.79
f 7 1685.00 72.80 69.51 9.63 1051.42 40.10 170.00 7.89 79.16 9.21 31-50 m 5 3.485 16 0.003* 2.598 16 0.019* 3.305 16 0.004*
f 13
31-50 m 6 1783.33 98.50 79.56 6.50 1116.66 74.40 188.83 7.57 88.16 5.94
f 12 1662.91 73.40 71.28 16.00 1044.16 50.80 172.66 9.50 74.36 3.23 51-60 m 4 1.565 8 0.156 2.307 8 0.050* 1.597 8 0.149
f 6
51-60 m 3 1796.66 51.30 89.40 18.80 1146.66 55.00 196.33 6.50 88.00 1.00
f 6 1661.66 58.70 76.10 19.80 1038.33 49.50 180.00 6.72 79.00 5.51 61-70 m 4 4.053 12 0.002* 2.538 12 0.026* 6.288 12 0.000*
f 10
61-70 m 6 1797.50 51.70 83.45 11.90 1116.66 44.10 189.00 14.50 87.83 4.75
f 9 1622.77 66.10 64.73 10.80 998.88 47.80 175.44 11.10 76.77 3.86 71-80 m 8 4.416 18 0.000* 3.665 18 0.002* 6.731 18 0.000*
f 12
71-80 m 8 1763.12 48.40 82.32 4.72 1082.50 24.90 189.75 8.41 85.75 8.64
f 11 1637.72 51.60 68.98 8.29 1017.27 31.30 175.45 8.95 76.09 2.30
Key:
81-90 f 6 1581.66 64.30 57.86 10.40 986.66 40.80 168.83 13.30 76.83 4.21 t = value from t-test
df = degrees of freedom
sig = level of statistical significance (* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level)

46 47
Session 2 – Horizontal wrist-twisting strength Session 2 – Horizontal wrist-twisting strength
Ridged knob Butterfly nut Tap
Age (years) Sex No. T DF Sig T DF Sig T DF Sig Age (years) 2-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90

2-5 m 8 1.843 13 0.088 1.719 13 0.109 1.354 13 0.199

2-5 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻
f 7
6-10 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ X
6-10 m 7 1.588 16 0.132 2.164 16 0.046 1.289 16 0.216
f 11 11-15 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ X X
not 3 not 3
11-15 m 10 1.275 18 0.219 1.541 18 0.141 1.829 18 0.084
f 10 16-20 X X X X ✻ ✻
not 3
16-20 m 9 4.285 14 0.001* 5.132 14 0.000* 3.240 14 0.006*
f 7 21-30 X X X X ✻
not 2
21-30 m 7 3.937 12 0.002* 3.025 12 0.011* 3.813 12 0.002*
f 7 31-50 X X ✻ ✻
31-50 m 6 4.156 16 0.001* 5.052 16 0.000* 5.435 16 0.000* 51-60 X X ✻
f 12 not 1
51-60 m 3 0.386 7 0.711 0.543 7 0.604 0.258 7 0.804 61-70 X ✻
f 6
71-80 X
61-70 m 6 5.256 13 0.000* 11.44 13 0.000* 6.400 13 0.000* not 3
f 9
81-90
71-80 m 8 5.462 17 0.000* 4.763 17 0.000* 3.684 17 0.002*
f 11
* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level Key:
Key: 1 = ridged knob
t = value from t-test 2 = butterfly nut
df = degrees of freedom 3 = tap
sig = level of statistical significance (* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level)

4c – Differences between age groups (t-test) 4d – Differences between handle type (Paired samples test)
Session 1 – Vertical wrist-twisting strength Session 1 – Vertical wrist-twisting strength
Age (years) 2-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90
Handle t df sig

2-5 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻
Door lever – door knob -22.693 149 0.000*
6-10 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ X
Door lever – circular knob -23.134 149 0.000*
not 2, 3 not 2, 3
Door lever – ridged knob 24.352 149 0.000*
11-15 ✻ ✻ ✻ X X X X
not 2, 3 not 2, 3 not 2, 3 not 6 not 3 Door lever – butterfly nut 24.166 149 0.000*
16-20 X X X ✻ ✻ ✻ Door lever - tap -19.550 149 0.000*
not 6 not 1, 6
Door knob – circular knob -14.442 149 0.000*
21-30 X X ✻ ✻ ✻
not 1 not 1, 6 not 1 Door knob – ridged knob 16.961 149 0.000*

31-50 X X ✻ ✻ Door knob butterfly nut 16.959 149 0.000*

not 3 not 1, 6 not 1
Door knob - tap -6.215 149 0.000*
51-60 X X ✻
not 3 not 2, 3, 5 not 1 Circular knob – ridged knob 5.121 149 0.000*

61-70 X X Circular knob – butterfly nut 7.432 149 0.000*

not 6 Circular knob - tap -15.633 149 0.000*
71-80 X Ridged knob – butterfly nut -3.990 149 0.000*
not 3
Ridged knob - tap -19.303 149 0.000*
81-90
Butterfly nut - tap -19.550 149 0.000*
* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level Key:
1 = door lever 3 = circular knob 5 = butterfly nut
2 = door knob 4 = ridged knob 6 = tap

48 49
 APPENDIX 5 – OPENING STRENGTH

Session 2 – Horizontal wrist-twisting strength 5a - Anthropometric characteristics of subjects

Stature (mm) Weight (kg) Elbow height (mm) Hand length (mm) Hand breadth (mm)
Handle t df sig
Age (years) Sex No. Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD

Ridged knob – butterfly nut -4.219 149 0.000* 2-5 m 7 1044.28 121.6 17.65 3.27 617.14 82.2 111.42 13.80 55.16 5.56
f 10 1061.00 106.7 16.70 3.23 627.00 71.9 112.30 14.20 51.60 4.97
Ridged knob - tap -14.155 149 0.000*
6-10 m 8 1392.50 79.2 33.65 7.24 861.25 63.3 147.37 7.53 66.37 3.85
Butterfly nut - tap -15.081 149 0.000* f 10 1354.00 119.0 27.74 8.27 847.00 91.6 138.40 14.1 62.00 5.37

11-15 m 9 1653.33 110.3 51.34 13.0 1043.33 66.3 169.44 12.1 78.00 6.85
Key:
f 7 1561.42 89.3 46.28 11.8 977.14 46.8 160.71 8.49 70.00 5.19
t = value from t-test
16-20 m 5 1801.00 65.2 76.04 11.6 1104.00 37.8 186.40 12.0 84.80 3.76
df = degrees of freedom f 5 1772.00 96.5 71.84 19.0 1136.00 73.0 182.20 18.0 82.40 4.27
sig = level of statistical significance (* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level) 21-30 m 8 1822.50 72.6 76.05 21.0 1131.20 44.5 189.62 9.11 84.12 4.01
f 9 1706.11 54.4 70.44 8.92 1073.33 40.6 172.00 6.42 75.75 8.69

31-50 m 5 1792.00 106.6 81.28 5.55 1134.00 69.8 190.40 7.30 88.60 6.54
4e – Differences between vertical and horizontal wrist-twisting strength (t-test) f 13 1657.69 69.2 69.49 16.6 1036.92 47.6 171.76 9.91 74.16 3.35

51-60 m 4 1782.50 49.9 93.65 17.5 1125.00 41.2 193.50 9.32 88.00 0.81
Handle t df sig f 5 1647.00 55.4 69.84 14.1 1022.00 38.9 179.00 7.00 77.20 3.70

61-70 m 5 1810.00 50.9 83.34 13.3 1126.00 49.7 191.60 14.6 89.60 3.43
Ridged knob 3.459 149 0.001* f 9 1623.33 68.5 64.73 10.8 1011.11 47.5 175.44 11.1 77.44 2.96
Butterfly nut 3.697 149 0.000* 71-80 m 8 1766.87 43.6 82.32 4.72 1082.50 30.1 189.75 8.41 88.25 4.20
Tap 0.357 149 0.721 f 12 1649.16 49.4 67.85 8.82 1030.00 35.9 175.58 8.55 76.41 2.46

81-90 f 5 1586.00 77.0 59.08 11.2 994.00 62.2 172.60 10.7 78.00 3.46
Key:
t = value from t-test
df = degrees of freedom
5b – Differences between males and females (t-test)
sig = level of statistical significance (* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level) Smooth lids
45mm 65mm 85mm
4f – Correlation between measurements (Pearson Correlation) Age (years) Sex No. T DF Sig T DF Sig T DF Sig

2-5 m 7 0.392 15 0.701 -0.181 15 0.859 0.082 15 0.936

Session 1 – Vertical wrist-twisting strength f 10

6-10 m 8 0.814 16 0.428 1.819 15 0.089 0.720 15 0.483

Door lever Door knob Circular knob Ridged knob Butterfly nut Tap f 10

11-15 m 9 0.771 14 0.454 -0.164 12 0.872 1.793 14 0.095

Door lever 1.000 0.661 0.547 0.762 0.678 0.722 f 7
Door knob 0.661 1.000 0.870 0.845 0.789 0.879 16-20 m 5 -0.877 8 0.406 0.693 8 0.508 0.853 8 0.418
f 5
Circular knob 0.547 0.870 1.000 0.698 0.693 0.818
21-30 m 8 0.417 15 0.683 2.141 15 0.049* 0.986 15 0.340
Ridged knob 0.762 0.845 0.698 1.000 0.882 0.872
f 9
Butterfly nut 0.678 0.789 0.693 0.882 1.000 0.844
31-50 m 5 1.255 16 0.227 1.987 16 0.064 2.889 16 0.011*
Tap 0.722 0.879 0.818 0.872 0.844 1.000 f 13

51-60 m 4 1.159 7 0.285 0.915 7 0.391 1.765 7 0.121

f 5
Session 2 – Horizontal wrist-twisting strength 61-70 m 5 4.334 12 0.001* 6.360 12 0.000* 3.461 12 0.005*
f 9

Ridged knob Butterfly nut Tap 71-80 m 8 3.059 18 0.007* 4.062 17 0.001* 3.512 17 0.001*
f 12
ridged
Ridged knob knob
1.000 butterfly nut
0.931 tap 0.867
Key:
Butterfly nut 0.931 1.000 0.839
ridged knob 1.000 0.931 0.867 t = value from t-test
Tap 0.867 0.839 1.000 df = degrees of freedom
sig = level of statistical significance (* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level)

50 51
Knurled lids 5d – Differences between lid size and texture (Paired samples test)

45mm 65mm 85mm Jar size and lid type t df sig Key: ss = small sized lid (45mm) with smooth texture
Age (years) Sex No. T DF Sig T DF Sig T DF Sig
sk = small sized lid (45mm) with knurled texture
2-5 m 7 0.713 15 0.487 0.796 15 0.438 0.380 15 0.710 ss - sk -6.824 143 0.000*
ms = medium sized lid (65mm) with smooth texture
f 10
ms - mk -5.400 139 0.000* mk = medium sized lid (65mm) with knurled texture
6-10 m 8 1.526 16 0.147 1.211 16 0.244 1.290 16 0.215
ls - lk -5.407 141 0.000* ls = large sized lid (85mm) with smooth texture
f 10
ss – ms -14.536 140 0.000* lk = large sized lid (85mm) with knurled texture
11-15 m 9 0.875 14 0.397 1.340 14 0.202 1.723 14 0.107
f 7 ss – ls -16.901 143 0.000* t = value from t-test
16-20 m 5 0.408 8 0.694 2.040 8 0.076 1.662 8 0.135 ss – mk -14.111 143 0.000*
df = degrees of freedom
f 5 sig = level of statistical significance (* denotes significant difference at
ss – lk -16.452 142 0.000*
21-30 m 8 1.016 15 0.326 2.348 15 0.033* 2.100 15 0.053 0.05 level)
f 9 ms – ls -10.964 139 0.000*

31-50 m 5 1.938 15 0.072 3.174 16 0.006* 4.299 16 0.001* ms – sk 10.237 139 0.000*
f 13
ms – lk -12.496 138 0.000*
51-60 m 4 0.970 7 0.364 0.802 7 0.449 2.204 7 0.063
ls – sk 15.114 142 0.000*
f 5
ls – mk 6.758 142 0.000*
61-70 m 5 6.186 12 0.000* 8.095 12 0.000* 3.274 11 0.007*
f 9 sk – mk -13.015 142 0.000*
71-80 m 8 3.822 18 0.001* 3.867 17 0.001* 4.058 17 0.001 sk – lk -15.481 141 0.000*
f 12
mk - lk -10.290 141 0.000*

Key:
t = value from t-test
df = degrees of freedom 5e – Correlation between measurements (Pearson Correlation)
sig = level of statistical significance (* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level)

ss ms ls sk mk lk Key: ss = small sized lid (45mm) with smooth texture

sk = small sized lid (45mm) with knurled texture
5c – Differences between age groups (t-test) ss 1.000 0.889 0.851 0.904 0.827 0.812 ms = medium sized lid (65mm) with smooth texture
ms 0.889 1.000 0.909 0.903 0.906 0.904 mk = medium sized lid (65mm) with knurled texture
Age (years) 2-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90
ls 0.851 0.909 1.000 0.872 0.894 0.948 ls = large sized lid (85mm) with smooth texture
2-5 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ lk = large sized lid (85mm) with knurled texture
sk 0.904 0.903 0.872 1.000 0.896 0.854
6-10 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ X
not ss not ss mk 0.827 0.906 0.894 0.896 1.000 0.911

11-15 X ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ X lk 0.812 0.904 0.948 0.854 0.911 1.000

not sk not ss, ms not ss, lk

16-20 X X X X X ✻

21-30 X X X ✻ ✻
not ss

31-50 X X ✻ ✻

51-60 X X ✻
not lk

61-70 X ✻
not ms

71-80 X
not sk, mk

81-90

* denotes significant difference Key: mk = medium sized lid (65mm) with

at 0.05 level ss = small sized lid (45mm) with knurled texture
smooth texture ls = large sized lid (85mm) with
sk = small sized lid (45mm) with smooth texture
knurled texture lk = large sized lid (85mm) with
ms = medium sized lid (65mm) with knurled texture
smooth texture
52 53
APPENDIX 6 – PUSH AND PULL STRENGTH

6a - Anthropometric characteristics of subjects 6b – Differences between males and females (t-test)

Session 1 - Pull on convex door knob Session 1 - Pull on convex knob
Stature (mm) Weight (kg) Elbow height (mm) Hand length (mm) Hand breadth (mm) Age (years) Sex No. T DF Sig Key:
Age (years) Sex No. Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
t = value from t-test
2-5 m 8 1021.37 104.60 17.27 2.78 615.00 77.60 109.50 13.30 55.57 5.56 2-5 m 8 -1.147 14 0.270
f 8 1133.75 108.80 19.00 4.66 677.50 78.30 118.50 15.00 54.25 6.62 f 8 df = degrees of freedom
sig = level of statistical significance
6-10 m 5 1366.00 86.40 30.80 5.39 824.00 53.60 145.40 12.10 65.8 6.53 6-10 m 5 -0.003 13 0.998
f 10 1380.50 127.50 30.74 8.49 864.00 86.30 142.70 14.70 64.00 5.05 f 10 (* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level)
11-15 m 12 1645.16 139.20 52.39 16.30 1015.83 85.7 169.75 15.60 77.66 7.19 11-15 m 12 1.238 15 0.235
f 5 1546.00 80.40 47.16 12.70 964.00 63.40 157.80 8.28 68.40 5.31 f 5

16-20 m 8 1823.75 61.50 73.60 13.90 1133.75 33.30 189.37 13.10 86.25 5.67 16-20 m 8 1.632 14 0.125
f 8 1751.25 78.10 65.80 11.90 1103.75 48.30 179.87 14.40 77.75 6.20 f 8

21-30 m 7 1808.57 52.30 80.65 34.00 1131.42 50.80 186.57 7.50 84.00 6.55 21-30 m 7 1.706 12 0.114
f 7 1700.71 53.00 67.17 12.30 1082.85 21.30 172.66 7.99 79.00 8.76 f 7

31-50 m 7 1813.57 105.30 84.37 14.00 1141.42 66.10 190.71 7.38 88.14 5.87 31-50 m 7 2.309 22 0.031*
f 17 1668.82 53.50 70.20 15.40 1054.11 43.50 173.06 6.86 75.06 3.56 f 17

51-60 m 5 1791.00 49.50 88.00 453.00 1120.00 33.90 192.8 7.39 88.00 0.70 51-60 m 5 2.393 9 0.040*
f 6 1654.16 61.10 68.03 13.40 1030.00 39.40 166.66 30.80 77.50 3.39 f 6

61-70 m 4 1813.75 60.46 87.65 12.40 1130.00 50.30 195.50 15.50 91.25 4.34 61-70 m 4 2.575 9 0.030*
f 7 1632.14 73.70 68.02 9.48 1012.85 55.80 177.42 11.70 78.14 2.96 f 7

71-80 m 7 1770.00 44.80 82.00 5.01 1088.57 19.50 189.00 8.79 87.28 3.45 71-80 m 7 8.394 14 0.000*
f 9 1632.77 49.60 69.04 9.08 1025.55 24.50 173.11 8.13 75.66 2.34 f 9

81-90 f 4 1557.50 60.70 60.40 12.50 980.00 52.20 171.50 12.10 78.00 4.00

Session 2 - Push with 1 hand on cylindrical bar

Session 2 - Push & pull on cylindrical bar
Horizontal Vertical
Age (years) Sex No. T DF Sig T DF Sig Key:
Stature (mm) Weight (kg) Elbow height (mm) Hand length (mm) Hand breadth (mm)
Age (years) Sex No. Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD 2-5 m 12 2.016 19 0.058 2.857 19 0.010* t = value from t-test
f 9 df = degrees of freedom
2-5 m 12 1050.83 103.70 17.53 3.02 624.16 67.00 112.41 12.60 56.27 6.19
f 9 1038.88 100.50 16.24 3.25 617.78 76.40 109.55 9.93 51.88 5.03 6-10 m 8 0.754 17 0.461 0.250 17 0.806 sig = level of statistical significance
f 11 (* denotes significant difference at
6-10 m 8 1387.50 81.30 32.37 7.61 817.50 119.00 148.75 6.98 65.87 4.01
f 11 1355.90 129.40 27.65 8.96 843.63 103.00 140.27 14.00 61.54 7.22 11-15 m 9 1.055 13 0.310 1.630 13 0.127 0.05 level)
f 6
11-15 m 9 1640.00 101.30 48.07 7.21 1034.44 61.40 152.13 52.00 78.00 6.85
f 6 1573.33 99.90 47.83 11.40 998.33 54.10 161.66 12.70 69.66 5.85 16-20 m 6 1.032 10 0.327 2.023 10 0.071
f 6
16-20 m 6 1813.33 65.70 79.40 13.20 1111.66 38.60 188.83 12.30 86.00 4.47
f 6 1775.00 69.80 70.36 16.60 1130.00 66.60 184.50 13.10 78.00 7.89 21-30 m 5 1.966 12 0.073 1.392 12 0.189
f 9
21-30 m 5 1831.00 83.50 83.68 40.70 1158.00 50.60 191.20 8.67 85.80 6.49
f 9 1675.00 51.70 70.88 7.98 1070.00 41.20 168.50 7.28 77.85 9.52 31-50 m 6 1.386 15 0.186 2.789 15 0.014*
f 11
31-50 m 6 1790.00 95.40 82.30 5.55 1133.33 61.50 191.66 6.79 87.83 6.14
f 11 1670.00 66.80 69.87 16.70 1040.00 45.20 172.40 8.89 74.44 3.46 51-60 m 3 1.245 7 0.253 -0.820 7 0.439
f 6
51-60 m 3 1806.66 51.30 89.06 18.20 1136.66 28.80 196.33 6.50 88.00 1.00
f 6 1660.83 60.30 76.10 19.80 1038.33 39.20 179.66 6.47 79.00 5.51 61-70 m 5 3.315 12 0.006* 3.376 12 0.006*
f 9
61-70 m 5 1810.00 50.90 83.34 13.30 1126.00 49.70 191.60 14.60 89.6.00 3.43
f 9 1622.77 69.30 64.73 10.80 1015.55 43.90 175.44 11.20 77.44 2.96 71-80 m 7 1.277 17 0.219 3.016 17 0.008*
f 12
71-80 m 7 1772.14 41.60 82.62 5.02 1082.85 29.20 189.57 9.07 87.42 3.77
f 12 1649.58 49.20 67.85 8.82 1028.33 35.80 175.58 8.55 76.41 2.46

81-90 f 5 1586.00 77.00 59.08 11.20 1004.00 43.50 172.60 10.70 78.00 3.46

54 55
Session 2 - Push with 2 hands on cylindrical bar Session 2 - Pull with 2 hands on cylindrical bar
Horizontal Vertical Horizontal Vertical
Age (years) Sex No. T DF Sig T DF Sig Age (years) Sex No. T DF Sig T DF Sig Key:
Key:
2-5 m 12 1.734 19 0.099 1.385 19 0.182 2-5 m 12 2.084 19 0.051 0.759 19 0.457 t = value from t-test
t = value from t-test
f 9 f 9 df = degrees of freedom
df = degrees of freedom
6-10 m 8 1.050 17 0.308 0.738 17 0.471 6-10 m 8 2.112 17 0.050* 0.177 17 0.862 sig = level of statistical significance
f 11 sig = level of statistical significance f 11 (* denotes significant difference at
(* denotes significant difference at
11-15 m 9 0.089 13 0.930 0.274 13 0.788 0.05 level)
0.05 level) 11-15 m 9 0.387 13 0.705 0..825 13 0.424
f 6 f 6
16-20 m 6 1.248 10 0.240 2.689 10 0.023* 16-20 m 6 0.705 10 0.497 1.904 10 0.086
f 6 f 6
21-30 m 5 2.509 12 0.027* 2.570 12 0.025* 21-30 m 5 2.192 12 0.049* 2.265 12 0.043*
f 9 f 9
31-50 m 6 3.623 15 0.003* 4.195 15 0.001* 31-50 m 6 2.323 15 0.035* 1.438 15 0.171
f 11 f 11
51-60 m 3 1.683 7 0.136 1.703 7 0.132 51-60 m 3 0.883 7 0.406 1.444 7 0.192
f 6 f 6
61-70 m 5 3.598 12 0.004* 3.628 12 0.003* 61-70 m 5 2.823 12 0.015* 3.790 12 0.003*
f 9 f 9
71-80 m 7 1.927 17 0.071 2.161 17 0.045* 71-80 m 7 2.308 17 0.034* 2.427 17 0.027*
f 12 f 12

Session 2 - Pull with 1 hand on cylindrical bar

6c – Differences between age groups (t-test)
Horizontal Vertical
Age (years) Sex No. T DF Sig T DF Sig Key:
Session 1 - Pull on convex knob
2-5 m 12 2.591 19 0.018* 1.616 19 0.123 t = value from t-test
f 9 Age (years) 2-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90
df = degrees of freedom
6-10 m 8 1.420 17 0.174 1.935 17 0.070 sig = level of statistical significance 2-5 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻
f 11 (* denotes significant difference at
0.05 level) 6-10 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ X
11-15 m 9 1.219 13 0.245 1.101 13 0.291
f 6 11-15 ✻ X X X X X ✻
16-20 m 6 1.477 10 0.170 0.260 10 0.236 16-20 X X X ✻ X ✻
f 6
21-30 X X X X ✻
21-30 m 5 1.810 12 0.095 0.380 12 0.711
f 9 31-50 X X X ✻

31-50 m 6 2.245 15 0.040* 1.928 15 0.073 51-60 X X X

f 11
61-70 X X
51-60 m 3 0.734 7 0.487 1.095 7 0.310
71-80 ✻
f 6
81-90
61-70 m 5 3.343 12 0.006* 3.749 12 0.003*
f 9

71-80 m 7 0.860 17 0.402 2.682 17 0.016* * denotes significant difference at 0.05 level
f 12

56 57
Session 2 - Push & pull on cylindrical bar 6d – Differences between direction of force and number of hands used (Paired
samples test)
Age (years) 2-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90
Session 2 - Push & pull on cylindrical bar
2-5 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻

6-10 ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ X X Action t df sig

not 1 not 1, 2, 5 not 1, 2, 5 not 8 Key:
11-15 ✻ X X X X ✻ ✻ hpush1-hpush2 -7.435 144 0.000* hpush1 = horizontal push with 1 hand
not 4, 5 not 6 not 2, 6, 8 hpush2 = horizontal push with 2 hands
hpull1 – hpush1 4.018 144 0.000*
16-20 X X ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ hpull1 = horizontal pull with 1 hand
not 4, 7, 8 not 7 hpull2 – hpush1 7.453 144 0.000*
hpull2 = horizontal pull with 2 hands
21-30 X X X ✻ ✻ hpush1 – vpush1 -2.790 144 0.006*
vpush1 = vertical push with 1 hand
not 5 hpush1 – vpush2 -8.300 144 0.000*
vpush2 = vertical push with 2 hands
31-50 X X ✻ ✻ hpush1 – vpull1 -4.660 144 0.000*
not 5, 6 not 6 vpull1 = vertical pull with 1 hand
hpush1 – vpull2 -7.196 144 0.000* vpull2 = vertical pull with 2 hands
51-60 X X ✻
not 4 not 1, 3, 5, 7 hpull1 – hpush2 -3.248 144 0.001* t = value from t-test
hpull2 – hpush2 0.234 144 0.815 df = degrees of freedom
61-70 X X sig = level of statistical significance (* denotes significant difference
not 4, 6 hpush2 – vpush1 4.706 144 0.000*
at 0.05 level)
71-80 ✻ hpush2 – vpush2 -2.188 144 0.030*
not 7 hpush2 – vpull1 3.128 144 0.002*
81-90 hpush2 – vpull2 -1.156 144 0.249

hpull1 – hpull2 -4.657 144 0.000*

* denotes significant difference at 0.05 level Key:
hpull1 – vpush1 0.985 144 0.326
1 = horizontal push with 1 hand 5 = vertical push with 1 hand
2 = horizontal push with 2 hands hpull1 – vpush2 -5.201 144 0.000*
6 = vertical push with 2 hands
3 = horizontal pull with 1 hand 7 = vertical pull with 1 hand hpull1 – vpull1 -0.229 144 0.819

4 = horizontal pull with 2 hands 8 = vertical pull with 2 hands hpull1 – vpull2 -5.217 144 0.000*

hpull2 – vpush1 4.156 144 0.000*

hpull2 – vpush2 -1.390 144 0.167

hpull2 – vpull1 4.014 144 0.000*

hpull2 – vpull2 -1.147 144 0.253

vpush1 – vpush2 -6.886 144 0.000*

vpull1 – vpush1 1.142 144 0.255

vpull2 – vpush1 4.977 144 0.000*

vpull1 – vpush2 -5.270 144 0.000*

vpull2 – vpush2 -0.457 144 0.649

vpull1 – vpull2 -5.403 144 0.000*

58 59
 APPENDIX 7 – CORRELATION BETWEEN MEASUREMENTS
6e – Correlation between measurements (Pearson Correlation) Finger push strength
Index Index Thumb Thumb
forwards downwards forwards downwards
Session 2 - Push and pull on cylindrical bar
Finger push strength index forwards 1.000 0.932** 0.861** 0.886**
index downwards 0.932** 1.000 0.837** 0.898**
hpush1 hpush2 vpush1 vpush2 hpull1 hpull2 vpull1 vpull2 thumb forwards 0.861** 0.837** 1.000 0.920**
thumb downwards 0.886** 0.898** 0.920** 1.000
hpush1 1.000 0.842 0.764 0.813 0.797 0.789 0.822 0.742 Pinch pull strength pulp 2mm 0.018 0.006 -0.068 -0.041
hpush2 0.842 1.000 0.871 0.903 0.833 0.792 0.836 0.802 pulp 20mm 0.062 0.068 -0.028 0.008
pulp 40mm 0.090 0.080 -0.009 0.027
vpshl1 0.764 0.871 1.000 0.885 0.832 0.785 0.820 0.792 chuck 2mm 0.016 -0.001 -0.065 -0.031
chuck 20mm 0.056 0.027 -0.065 -0.024
vpush2 0.813 0.903 0.885 1.000 0.855 0.813 0.871 0.834 chuck 40mm 0.091 0.071 -0.022 0.013
hpull1 0.797 0.833 0.832 0.885 1.000 0.889 0.898 0.868 Hand grip strength 1 hand - 30mm -0.164* -0.126 -0.176* -0.109
hpull2 0.789 0.792 0.785 0.813 0.889 1.000 0.857 0.859 2 hands - 30mm -0.092 -0.047 -0.101 -0.037
1 hand - 50mm -0.077 -0.050 -0.099 -0.047
vpull1 0.822 0.836 0.820 0.871 0.898 0.857 1.000 0.886 2 hands - 50mm -0.010 0.016 -0.035 0.024
1 hand 70mm -0.120 -0.096 -0.141 -0.083
vpull2 0.742 0.802 0.792 0.834 0.868 0.859 0.886 1.000 2 hands - 70mm -0.041 -0.006 -0.074 -0.018

Key: Wrist-twisting strength vertical

door lever -0.057 -0.110 -0.020 -0.089
hpush1 = horizontal push with 1 hand hpull2 = horizontal pull with 2 hands vpull1 = vertical pull with 1 hand door knob -0.072 -0.092 -0.023 -0.048
hpush2 = horizontal push with 2 hands vpush1 = vertical push with 1 hand vpull2 = vertical pull with 2 hands circular knob -0.078 -0.097 0.015 -0.024
ridged knob -0.107 -0.128 -0.053 -0.104
hpull1 = horizontal pull with 1 hand vpush2 = vertical push with 2 hands butterfly nut -0.046 -0.048 0.010 -0.048
tap -0.076 -0.079 -0.028 -0.066

horizontal
ridged knob 0.004 0.036 0.016 0.023
butterfly nut 0.009 0.037 0.008 0.021
tap -0.067 -0.067 -0.022 -0.033

Opening strength smooth 45mm 0.135 0.131 0.128 0.104

knurled 45mm 0.093 0.094 0.108 0.080
smooth 65mm 0.190* 0.173* 0.167* 0.158
knurled 65mm 0.105 0.119 0.103 0.079
smooth 85mm 0.159 0.146 0.147 0.135
knurled 85mm 0.150 0.143 0.138 0.122

Push and pull strength convex knob 0.077 0.109 0.042 0.077

cylindrical bar
horizontal:
1 hand push 0.065 0.107 0.025 0.037
2 hands push -0.003 0.033 -0.035 -0.032
1 hand pull 0.017 0.04 -0.032 -0.034
2 hands pull 0.056 0.081 -0.003 0.013

vertical:
1 hand push 0.010 0.042 -0.042 -0.024
2 hands push -0.007 0.040 -0.034 -0.028
1 hand pull 0.018 0.044 -0.0312 -0.032
2 hands pull 0.031 0.054 -0.015 -0.007

Key:
* denotes significant correlation at 0.05 level
** denotes significant correlation at 0.01 level

60 61
 Pinch-pull strength Hand grip strength
Pulp Pulp Pulp Chuck Chuck Chuck 1 hand 2 hands 1 hand 2 hands 1 hand 2 hands
2mm 20mm 40mm 2mm 20mm 40mm 30mm 30mm 50mm 50mm 70mm 70mm
Finger push strength index forwards 0.018 0.062 0.090 0.016 0.056 0.091 Finger push strength index forwards -0.164* -0.092 -0.077 -0.010 -0.120 -0.041
index downwards 0.006 0.068 0.080 -0.001 0.027 0.071 index downwards -0.126 -0.047 -0.050 0.016 -0.096 -0.006
thumb forwards -0.068 -0.028 -0.009 -0.069 -0.065 -0.022 thumb forwards -0.176* -0.101 -0.099 -0.035 -0.141 -0.074
thumb downwards -0.041 0.008 0.027 -0.031 -0.024 0.013 thumb downwards -0.109 -0.037 -0.047 0.024 -0.083 -0.018

Pinch pull strength pulp 2mm 1.000 0.886** 0.839** 0.891** 0.845** 0.802** Pinch pull strength pulp 2mm 0.091 0.034 0.074 0.025 0.099 0.072
pulp 20mm 0.886** 1.000 0.915** 0.893** 0.900** 0.901** pulp 20mm 0.039 -0.001 0.022 0.003 0.025 0.028
pulp 40mm 0.839** 0.915** 1.000 0.865** 0.869** 0.890** pulp 40mm 0.052 0.009 0.044 0.012 0.044 0.040
chuck 2mm 0.891** 0.893** 0.865** 1.000 0.918** 0.886** chuck 2mm 0.088 0.037 0.082 0.046 0.105 0.079
chuck 20mm 0.845** 0.900** 0.869** 0.918** 1.000 0.933** chuck 20mm 0.127 0.061 0.129 0.091 0.123 0.119
chuck 40mm 0.802** 0.901** 0.890** 0.886** 0.933** 1.000 chuck 40mm 0.082 0.011 0.083 0.060 0.089 0.091

Hand grip strength 1 hand - 30mm 0.091 0.039 0.052 0.088 0.127 0.082 Hand grip strength 1 hand - 30mm 1.000 0.865** 0.925** 0.829** 0.906** 0.865**
2 hands - 30mm 0.034 -0.001 0.009 0.037 0.061 0.011 2 hands - 30mm 0.865** 1.000 0.831** 0.877** 0.818** 0.881**
1 hand - 50mm 0.074 0.022 0.044 0.082 0.129 0.083 1 hand - 50mm 0.925** 0.831** 1.000 0.891** 0.957** 0.912**
2 hands - 50mm 0.025 0.003 0.012 0.046 0.091 0.060 2 hands - 50mm 0.829** 0.877** 0.891** 1.000 0.869** 0.937**
1 hand 70mm 0.099 0.025 0.044 0.105 0.123 0.089 1 hand 70mm 0.906** 0.818** 0.957** 0.869** 1.000 0.916**
2 hands - 70mm 0.072 0.028 0.040 0.079 0.119 0.091 2 hands - 70mm 0.865** 0.881** 0.912** 0.937** 0.916** 1.000

Wrist-twisting strength vertical Wrist-twisting strength vertical

door lever -0.047 -0.071 -0.136 -0.084 -0.081 -0.076 door lever -0.071 0.008 -0.081 -0.006 -0.051 -0.050
door knob 0.007 -0.074 -0.098 -0.038 -0.053 -0.069 door knob -0.002 0.050 -0.004 0.025 -0.021 -0.003
circular knob -0.039 -0.097 -0.139 -0.075 -0.086 -0.058 circular knob 0.014 0.049 0.023 0.067 0.015 0.041
ridged knob 0.004 -0.069 -0.114 -0.032 -0.057 -0.065 ridged knob -0.087 -0.032 -0.083 -0.047 -0.083 -0.070
butterfly nut 0.075 0.034 -0.008 0.042 0.032 0.041 butterfly nut -0.034 0.024 -0.027 0.005 -0.026 -0.017
tap 0.013 -0.031 -0.065 -0.023 -0.046 -0.030 tap -0.052 0.007 -0.050 -0.001 -0.051 -0.034

horizontal horizontal
ridged knob 0.141 0.090 0.153 0.125 0.083 0.107 ridged knob 0.210* 0.278** 0.272** 0.284** 0.310** 0.271**
butterfly nut 0.150 0.091 0.173* 0.131 0.083 0.100 butterfly nut 0.181* 0.272** 0.224** 0.252** 0.250** 0.223**
tap 0.139 0.077 0.116 0.119 0.060 0.073 tap 0.142 0.211** 0.194* 0.192* 0.260** 0.198*

Opening strength smooth 45mm -0.116 -0.043 0.038 -0.096 -0.060 -0.038 Opening strength smooth 45mm 0.118 0.067 0.067 0.055 0.025 0.062
knurled 45mm -0.157 -0.076 0.002 -0.115 -0.078 -0.087 knurled 45mm 0.088 0.041 0.004 0.003 -0.037 0.007
smooth 65mm -0.062 0.015 0.092 -0.022 0.019 0.020 smooth 65mm 0.136 0.091 0.041 0.023 0.009 0.019
knurled 65mm -0.074 0.001 0.074 -0.028 0.010 0.009 knurled 65mm 0.120 0.065 0.052 0.015 0.012 0.027
smooth 85mm -0.022 0.080 0.172* 0.035 0.091 0.107 smooth 85mm 0.166* 0.107 0.093 0.070 0.048 0.078
knurled 85mm -0.010 0.065 0.139 0.041 0.089 0.095 knurled 85mm 0.189* 0.136 0.127 0.086 0.074 0.098

Push and pull strength convex knob -0.119 -0.034 -0.007 -0.118 -0.068 -0.032 Push and pull strength convex knob 0.068 0.074 0.003 0.003 -0.035 0.005

cylindrical bar cylindrical bar

horizontal: horizontal:
1 hand push 0.297** 0.281** 0.313** 0.312** 0.283** 0.310** 1 hand push -0.094 -0.164 -0.129 -0.106 -0.127 -0.107
2 hands push 0.250** 0.223** 0.255** 0.252** 0.242** 0.244** 2 hands push -0.116 -0.195* -0.131 -0.111 -0.132 -0.128
1 hand pull 0.210* 0.199* 0.238** 0.230** 0.202* 0.216* 1 hand pull -0.105 -0.164 -0.113 -0.114 -0.110 -0.092
2 hands pull 0.223** 0.217** 0.237** 0.253** 0.231** 0.221** 2 hands pull -0.104 -0.195* -0.114 -0.090 -0.117 -0.110

vertical: vertical:
1 hand push 0.204* 0.174* 0.221** 0.216** 0.202* 0.195* 1 hand push -0.079 -0.161 -0.108 -0.103 -0.109 -0.103
2 hands push 0.231** 0.219** 0.241** 0.233** 0.224** 0.201* 2 hands push -0.097 -0.174* -0.118 -0.109 -0.121 -0.116
1 hand pull 0.190* 0.187* 0.213* 0.224** 0.200* 0.209* 1 hand pull -0.132 -0.209* -0.125 -0.108 -0.128 -0.113
2 hands pull 0.165* 0.175* 0.215* 0.197* 0.174* 0.168* 2 hands pull -0.145 -0.221** -0.140 -0.127 -0.144 -0.134

Key: Key:
* denotes significant correlation at 0.05 level * denotes significant correlation at 0.05 level
** denotes significant correlation at 0.01 level ** denotes significant correlation at 0.01 level

62 63
 Wrist twisting strength (vertical) Wrist twisting strength (horizontal)
Door Door Circular Ridged Butterfly Tap Ridged knob Butterfly nut Tap
lever knob knob knob nut
Finger push strength index forwards -0.057 -0.072 -0.078 -0.107 -0.046 -0.076 Finger push strength index forwards 0.004 0.009 -0.067
index downwards -0.110 -0.092 -0.097 -0.128 -0.048 -0.079 index downwards 0.036 0.037 -0.067
thumb forwards -0.020 -0.023 0.015 -0.053 0.010 -0.028 thumb forwards 0.016 0.008 -0.022
thumb downwards -0.089 -0.048 -0.024 -0.104 -0.048 -0.066 thumb downwards 0.023 0.021 -0.033

Pinch pull strength pulp 2mm -0.047 0.007 -0.039 0.004 0.075 0.013 Pinch pull strength pulp 2mm 0.141 0.150 0.139
pulp 20mm -0.071 -0.074 -0.097 -0.069 0.034 -0.031 pulp 20mm 0.090 0.091 0.077
pulp 40mm -0.136 -0.098 -0.139 -0.114 -0.008 -0.065 pulp 40mm 0.153 0.173* 0.116
chuck 2mm -0.084 -0.038 -0.075 -0.032 0.042 -0.023 chuck 2mm 0.125 0.131 0.119
chuck 20mm -0.081 -0.053 -0.086 -0.057 0.032 -0.046 chuck 20mm 0.083 0.083 0.060
chuck 40mm -0.076 -0.069 -0.058 -0.065 0.041 -0.030 chuck 40mm 0.107 0.100 0.073

Hand grip strength 1 hand - 30mm -0.071 -0.002 0.014 -0.087 -0.034 -0.052 Hand grip strength 1 hand - 30mm 0.210* 0.181* 0.142
2 hands - 30mm 0.008 0.050 0.049 -0.032 0.024 0.007 2 hands - 30mm 0.278** 0.272** 0.211**
1 hand - 50mm -0.081 -0.004 0.023 -0.083 -0.027 -0.050 1 hand - 50mm 0.272** 0.224** 0.194*
2 hands - 50mm -0.006 0.025 0.067 -0.047 0.005 -0.001 2 hands - 50mm 0.284** 0.252** 0.192*
1 hand 70mm -0.051 -0.021 0.015 -0.083 -0.026 -0.051 1 hand 70mm 0.310** 0.250** 0.260**
2 hands - 70mm -0.050 -0.003 0.041 -0.070 -0.017 -0.030 2 hands - 70mm 0.271** 0.223** 0.198*

Wrist-twisting strength vertical Wrist-twisting strength vertical

door lever 1.000 0.661** 0.547** 0.762** 0.678** 0.722** door lever -0.146 -0.173* -0.130
door knob 0.661** 1.000 0.870** 0.845** 0.789** 0.879** door knob -0.047 -0.052 -0.021
circular knob 0.547** 0.870** 1.000 0.698** 0.693** 0.818** circular knob -0.035 -0.035 -0.010
ridged knob 0.762** 0.845** 0.698** 1.000 0.882** 0.872** ridged knob -0.107 -0.102 -0.059
butterfly nut 0.678** 0.789** 0.693** 0.882** 1.000 0.844** butterfly nut -0.048 -0.057 -0.041
tap 0.722** 0.879** 0.818** 0.872** 0.844** 1.000 tap -0.033 -0.027 -0.018

horizontal horizontal
ridged knob -0.146 -0.047 -0.035 -0.107 -0.048 -0.033 ridged knob 1.000 0.931** 0.867**
butterfly nut -0.173* -0.052 -0.035 -0.102 -0.057 -0.027 butterfly nut 0.931** 1.000 0.839**
tap -0.130 -0.021 -0.010 -0.059 -0.041 -0.018 tap 0.867** 0.839** 1.000

Opening strength smooth 45mm -0.116 -0.075 -0.015 -0.128 -0.113 -0.028 Opening strength smooth 45mm 0.070 0.071 -0.002
knurled 45mm -0.067 -0.026 -0.003 -0.072 -0.048 0.035 knurled 45mm 0.029 0.040 -0.042
smooth 65mm -0.117 -0.044 -0.022 -0.11 -0.085 -0.028 smooth 65mm 0.055 0.091 0.001
knurled 65mm -0.107 -0.061 -0.019 -0.105 -0.054 0.010 knurled 65mm 0.066 0.082 -0.022
smooth 85mm -0.156 -0.062 -0.018 -0.105 -0.061 -0.019 smooth 85mm 0.109 0.129 0.015
knurled 85mm -0.168* -0.065 0.007 -0.102 -0.047 -0.022 knurled 85mm 0.119 0.138 0.022

Push and pull strength convex knob 0.076 0.072 0.044 -0.022 0.049 0.061 Push and pull strength convex knob 0.120 0.116 -0.012

cylindrical bar cylindrical bar

horizontal: horizontal:
1 hand push -0.116 -0.163 -0.258** -0.093 -0.113 -0.161 1 hand push -0.029 -0.022 -0.045
2 hands push -0.115 -0.128 -0.234** -0.072 -0.136 -0.154 2 hands push -0.023 -0.013 -0.028
1 hand pull -0.125 -0.121 -0.227** -0.071 -0.130 -0.136 1 hand pull -0.026 -0.017 0.011
2 hands pull -0.125 -0.098 -0.176* -0.044 -0.065 -0.111 2 hands pull -0.035 -0.015 -0.037

vertical: vertical:
1 hand push -0.069 -0.061 -0.182* -0.024 -0.113 -0.094 1 hand push -0.111 -0.092 -0.095
2 hands push -0.100 -0.087 -0.210* -0.060 -0.113 -0.118 2 hands push -0.045 -0.039 -0.049
1 hand pull -0.107 -0.119 -0.232* -0.052 -0.112 -0.128 1 hand pull -0.062 -0.048 -0.040
2 hands pull -0.112 -0.099 -0.203* -0.067 -0.098 -0.122 2 hands pull -0.077 -0.061 -0.032

Key: Key:
* denotes significant correlation at 0.05 level * denotes significant correlation at 0.05 level
** denotes significant correlation at 0.01 level ** denotes significant correlation at 0.01 level

64 65
 Opening strength
Push and pull strength (horizontal)
Smooth Knurled Smooth Knurled Smooth Knurled
45mm 45mm 65mm 65mm 85mm 85mm 1 hand push 2 hands push 1 hand pull 2 hands pull
Finger push strength index forwards 0.135 0.093 0.190* 0.105 0.159 0.150
Finger push strength index forwards 0.065 -0.003 0.017 0.056
index downwards 0.131 0.094 0.173* 0.119 0.146 0.143
index downwards 0.107 0.033 0.040 0.081
thumb forwards 0.128 0.108 0.167* 0.103 0.147 0.138
thumb forwards 0.025 -0.035 -0.032 0.003
thumb downwards 0.104 0.080 0.158 0.079 0.135 0.122
thumb downwards 0.037 -0.032 -0.034 0.013
Pinch pull strength pulp 2mm -0.116 -0.157 -0.062 -0.074 -0.022 -0.010
Pinch pull strength pulp 2mm 0.297** 0.250** 0.210* 0.223**
pulp 20mm -0.043 -0.076 0.015 0.001 0.080 0.065
pulp 20mm 0.281** 0.223** 0.199* 0.217**
pulp 40mm 0.038 0.002 0.092 0.074 0.172* 0.139
pulp 40mm 0.313** 0.255** 0.238** 0.237**
chuck 2mm -0.096 -0.115 -0.022 -0.028 0.035 0.041
chuck 2mm 0.312** 0.252** 0.230** 0.253**
chuck 20mm -0.060 -0.078 0.019 0.010 0.091 0.089
chuck 20mm 0.283** 0.242** 0.202* 0.231**
chuck 40mm -0.038 -0.087 0.020 0.009 0.107 0.095
chuck 40mm 0.311** 0.244** 0.216* 0.221**
Hand grip strength 1 hand - 30mm 0.118 0.088 0.136 0.120 0.166* 0.189*
Hand grip strength 1 hand - 30mm -0.094 -0.116 -0.105 -0.104
2 hands - 30mm 0.067 0.041 0.091 0.065 0.107 0.136
2 hands - 30mm -0.164 -0.195* -0.164 -0.195*
1 hand - 50mm 0.067 0.004 0.041 0.052 0.093 0.127
1 hand - 50mm -0.129 -0.131 -0.113 -0.114
2 hands - 50mm 0.055 0.003 0.023 0.015 0.070 0.086
2 hands - 50mm -0.106 -0.111 -0.114 -0.090
1 hand 70mm 0.025 -0.037 0.009 0.012 0.048 0.074
1 hand 70mm -0.127 -0.132 -0.110 -0.117
2 hands - 70mm 0.062 0.007 0.019 0.027 0.078 0.098
2 hands - 70mm -0.107 -0.128 -0.092 -0.110
Wrist-twisting strength vertical
Wrist-twisting strength vertical
door lever -0.116 -0.067 -0.117 -0.107 -0.156 -0.168*
door lever -0.116 -0.115 -0.125 -0.125
door knob -0.075 -0.026 -0.044 -0.061 -0.062 -0.065
door knob -0.163 -0.128 -0.121 -0.098
circular knob -0.015 -0.003 -0.022 -0.019 -0.018 0.007
circular knob -0.258** -0.234** -0.227** -0.176*
ridged knob -0.128 -0.072 -0.110 -0.105 -0.105 -0.102
ridged knob -0.093 -0.072 -0.071 -0.044
butterfly nut -0.113 -0.048 -0.085 -0.054 -0.061 -0.047
butterfly nut -0.113 -0.136 -0.130 -0.065
tap -0.028 0.035 -0.028 0.010 -0.019 -0.022
tap -0.161 -0.154 -0.136 -0.111
horizontal
horizontal
ridged knob 0.070 0.029 0.055 0.066 0.109 0.119
ridged knob -0.029 -0.023 -0.026 -0.035
butterfly nut 0.071 0.040 0.091 0.082 0.129 0.138
butterfly nut -0.022 -0.013 -0.017 -0.015
tap -0.002 -0.042 0.001 -0.022 0.015 0.022
tap -0.045 -0.028 0.011 -0.037
Opening strength smooth 45mm 1.000 0.904** 0.889** 0.827** 0.851** 0.812**
Opening strength smooth 45mm -0.146 -0.121 -0.087 -0.088
knurled 45mm 0.904** 1.000 0.903** 0.896** 0.872** 00854**
knurled 45mm -0.139 -0.141 -0.110 -0.097
smooth 65mm 0.889** 0.903** 1.000 0.906** 0.909** 0.904**
smooth 65mm -0.139 -0.119 -0.092 -0.079
knurled 65mm 0.827** 0.896** 0.906** 1.000 0.894** 0.911**
knurled 65mm -0.134 -0.121 -0.091 -0.057
smooth 85mm 0.851** 0.872** 0.909** 0.894** 1.000 0.948**
smooth 85mm -0.094 -0.083 -0.031 -0.009
knurled 85mm 0.812** 0.854** 0.904** 0.911** 0.948** 1.000
knurled 85mm -0.122 -0.111 -0.055 -0.019
Push and pull strength convex knob 0.334** 0.417** 0.425** 0.421** 0.410** 0.404**
Push and pull strength convex knob -0.152 -0.123 -0.129 0.193*
cylindrical bar
cylindrical bar
horizontal:
horizontal:
1 hand push -0.146 -0.139 -0.139 -0.134 -0.094 -0.122
1 hand push 1.000 0.944** 0.878** 0.823*
2 hands push -0.121 -0.141 -0.119 -0.121 -0.083 -0.111
2 hands push 0.944** 1.000 0.861** 0.836**
1 hand pull -0.087 -0.110 -0.092 -0.091 -0.031 -0.055
1 hand pull 0.878** 0.861** 1.000 0.914**
2 hands pull -0.088 -0.097 -0.079 -0.057 -0.009 -0.019
2 hands pull 0.823** 0.836** 0.914** 1.000
vertical:
vertical:
1 hand push -0.086 -0.082 -0.078 -0.063 -0.031 -0.060
1 hand push 0.917** 0.913** 0.893** 0.850**
2 hands push -0.098 -0.065 -0.089 -0.072 -0.040 -0.059
2 hands push 0.927** 0.935** 0.891** 0.850**
1 hand pull -0.096 -0.110 -0.095 -0.109 -0.047 -0.063
1 hand pull 0.878** 0.863** 0.919** 0.883**
2 hands pull -0.084 -0.081 -0.075 -0.070 -0.020 -0.031
2 hands pull 0.798** 0.825** 0.901** 0.885**

Key: Key:
* denotes significant correlation at 0.05 level * denotes significant correlation at 0.05 level
** denotes significant correlation at 0.01 level ** denotes significant correlation at 0.01 level

66 67
 REFERENCES

Push and pull strength (horizontal) Norris, B. J. and Wilson, J. R., 1995, CHILDATA: The Handbook of Child Measurements
1 hand push 2 hands push 1 hand pull 2 hands pull convex knob and Capabilities – Data for Design Safety, Department of Trade and Industry, London, UK.
Finger push strength index forwards 0.010 -0.007 0.018 0.031 0.077
index downwards 0.042 0.040 0.044 0.054 0.109 Peebles, L. and Norris, B. J., 1998, ADULTDATA: The Handbook of Adult Anthropometric
thumb forwards -0.042 -0.034 -0.032 -0.015 0.042
thumb downwards -0.024 -0.028 -0.032 -0.007 0.077 and Strength Measurements – Data for Design Safety, Department of Trade and Industry,
Pinch pull strength pulp 2mm 0.204* 0.231** 0.190* 0.165* -0.119 London, UK.
pulp 20mm 0.174* 0.219** 0.187* 0.175* -0.034
pulp 40mm 0.221** 0.241** 0.213* 0.215* -0.007 Smith, S. A., Norris, B. J. and Peebles, L., 2000, OLDER ADULTDATA: The Handbook of
chuck 2mm 0.216** 0.233** 0.224** 0.197* -0.118
chuck 20mm 0.202* 0.224** 0.200* 0.174* -0.068 Measurements and Capabilities of the Older Adult – Data for Design Safety, Department
chuck 40mm 0.195* 0.201* 0.209* 0.168* -0.032
of Trade and Industry, London, UK.
Hand grip strength 1 hand - 30mm -0.079 -0.097 -0.132 -0.145 0.068
2 hands - 30mm -0.161 -0.174* -0.209* -0.221** 0.074
1 hand - 50mm -0.108 -0.118 -0.125 -0.140 0.003
2 hands - 50mm -0.103 -0.109 -0.108 -0.127 0.003
1 hand 70mm -0.109 -0.121 -0.128 -0.144 -0.035 Copies of the above publications are available from:
2 hands - 70mm -0.103 -0.116 -0.113 -0.134 0.005

Wrist-twisting strength vertical

DTI Publications
door lever -0.069 -0.100 -0.107 -0.112 0.076
door knob -0.061 -0.087 -0.119 -0.099 0.072
ADMAIL 528
circular knob -0.182* -0.210* -0.232** -0.203* 0.044
ridged knob -0.024 -0.060 -0.052 -0.067 -0.022 London
butterfly nut -0.113 -0.113 -0.112 -0.098 0.049
tap -0.094 -0.118 -0.128 -0.122 0.061 SW1W 8YT
horizontal
ridged knob -0.111 -0.045 -0.062 -0.077 0.120
butterfly nut -0.092 -0.039 -0.048 -0.061 0.116 Telephone 0870 1502 500
tap -0.095 -0.049 -0.040 -0.032 -0.012
Fax 0870 1502 333
Opening strength smooth 45mm -0.086 -0.098 -0.096 -0.084 0.334**
knurled 45mm -0.082 -0.065 -0.110 -0.081 0.417** Internet www.dti.gov.uk
smooth 65mm -0.078 -0.089 -0.095 -0.075 0.425**
knurled 65mm -0.063 -0.072 -0.109 -0.070 0.421**
smooth 85mm -0.031 -0.040 -0.047 -0.020 0.410**
knurled 85mm -0.060 -0.059 -0.063 -0.031 0.404**
or
Push and pull strength convex knob -0.084 -0.107 -0.126 -0.1321 1.000

cylindrical bar
horizontal:
1 hand push 0.917** 0.927** 0.878** 0.798** -0.152 Product Safety and Testing Group
2 hands push 0.913** 0.935** 0.863** 0.825** -0.123
1 hand pull 0.893** 0.891** 0.919** 0.901** -0.129 Division of Manufacturing Engineering and Operations Management
2 hands pull 0.850** 0.850** 0.883** 0.885** -0.193*
University of Nottingham
vertical:
1 hand push 1.000 0.943** 0.879** 0.848** -0.084 University Park
2 hands push 0.943** 1.000 0.886** 0.867** -0.107
1 hand pull 0.879** 0.886** 1.000 0.895** -0.126 Nottingham
2 hands pull 0.848** 0.867** 0.895** 1.000 -0.132
NG7 2RD
Key:
* denotes significant correlation at 0.05 level
** denotes significant correlation at 0.01 level
Telephone +44 (0)115 9514038/9
Internet www.virart.nottingham.ac.uk/PSTG

68 69
October 2000

Research commissioned by Consumer Affairs Division, DTI.

Department of Trade and Industry,
1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET

Carried out under contract by:

Product Safety and Testing Group, Institute for Occupational Ergonomics and
Division of Manufacturing Engineering and Operations Management,
University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD

URN 00/1070