The comparison of pinch strength among female typists and female non-typists.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Typing is a common activity involving repetitive motion that can increase the risk of work-related injuries. To the best of our knowledge, the effect of typing on the pinch strength has not been investigated so far. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the pinch strength amongst female typists and non-typists. METHOD: Thirty female typists and 30 female non-typists, aged 20-30 years old, participated in this prospective study. The pinch strength of the second, third, fourth and fifth fingers of the dominant hand was measured in a sitting position, using a pinch gauge. The data were analyzed using independent sample t-test. RESULTS: The results showed that there were significant differences in the pinch strength of the second, third and fourth fingers between the two groups. The strength of these fingers was reduced more than that in female non-typists. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that pinch strength might have decreased in female typists due to sharing common attentional resources, muscle fiber composition, and muscle fiber fatigue.