Handedness effects on procedural training in pediatrics
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Published on: March 21, 2025
Dorothy Damore1, John Rutledge, Sharon Pan
1Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York 10065, USA. djt2001@med.cornell.edu
Objective:
To determine handedness effects on procedural training.
Patients And Methods:
Pediatric trainees and attendings from 3 institutions participated in a Web-based survey examining whether handedness affected learning procedures, the hand used to perform procedures, and if handedness training was received.
Results And Conclusions:
Of 778 physicians, 39% completed surveys, and 11% wrote with their left hand. Learning procedures were affected in left-handed physicians (60% vs 7.7%; odds ratio [OR] = 17.9; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 7.9-40.1), and they used their non-dominant or both hands to perform procedures (48.6% vs 21%; OR = 3.6; 95% CI = 1.7-7.4). Few physicians received handedness training (20% vs 10.7%; P= .16). Left-handed physicians were affected learning lumbar puncture (29% vs 4%; OR= 10.0; 95% CI = 3.8-26.4), intubation (36% vs 5%; OR=11.0; 95% CI=4.4-27.4), and suturing (32% vs 4%; OR = 11.7; 95% CI = 4.5-30.5).
