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Effect of training on interlimb transfer of dexterity skills in healthy adults
Eliza Annie Hillary Pereira1, Kavitha Raja, Ranganath Gangavalli
1Department of Physiotherapy, Manipal University, India.
Objective:
To examine transference of dexterity skills to the contralateral hand after ipsilateral hand training, retention of skills at 1 mo, and the influence of hand dominance, sex, and age on interlimb transfer of these skills.
Design:
This is an interventional study involving 200 healthy adults in the age group of 20-30 yrs and >30 yrs, who were block randomized into experimental and control groups. Experimental group was further subdivided into dominant and nondominant hand training group and participants underwent 5 days unsupervised training on tasks aimed at improving precision and dexterity. Jebsen-Taylor hand function test was administered at baseline, postintervention, and 1-mo follow-up. Analysis was done by nonparametric tests of comparison.
Results:
One hundred sixty-nine subjects completed the study. Transfer effect was noted from the dominant to the nondominant hand (P ≤ 0.001) and vice versa (P = 0.003) on the total test scores. This effect was retained at 1-mo follow-up.
Conclusions:
Dexterity skills are not consistently transferred to the contralateral hand after ipsilateral hand training. However, transference of gross motor skills of hand function does occur with retention effects up to 1 mo. Transfer of skills differs based on the hand trained and age of the individual.
