A Pilot Study of Five Types of Maximum Hand Strength among Manufacturing Industry Workers in Taiwan

Victor Ei-Wen Lo, Yi-Chen Chiu, Hsin-Hung Tu, Chien-Wei Liu and Chi-Yuang Yu
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Victor Ei-Wen Lo: Department of Occupational Safety and Health, China Medical University, Taichung City 40402, Taiwan
Yi-Chen Chiu: Department of Occupational Safety and Health, China Medical University, Taichung City 40402, Taiwan
Hsin-Hung Tu: Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Hsiuping University of Science and Technology, Taichung City 41280, Taiwan
Chien-Wei Liu: Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu City 30013, Taiwan
Chi-Yuang Yu: Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu City 30013, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-21

Abstract: Background: The purpose of this study is to collect five types of maximum hand strength among workers in the manufacturing industry in Taiwan. Methods: This study is a cross sectional study with a stratified and convenient sample of workers on the production line in manufacturing industries in Central Taiwan. In total, we recruited 198 healthy subjects to participate in this study. Five types of hand strength were measured in both hands three times with 3 min rests between trials. Results: The strength of females for these five types of hand exertions were 52.0% to 67.6% of the strength of males ( p < 0.001). For both genders, there was a main effect for the types of hand strength for the right hand ( p < 0.001) and the left hand ( p < 0.001). In general, the hand strength in U.S. and EU countries was 1.2 to 1.7 times greater than the strength among the three types of hand exertions in this study. Conclusion: These results can be used to evaluate the musculoskeletal burdens on the upper extremities in the manufacturing industry and could also be used for tool and job design and job modifications.

Keywords: hand strength; grip; lateral pinch; palmar pinch; thumb press; ball of thumb (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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