The relationship of digit and thumb range of motion to an elder's perception of self-care abilities

This study was designed to examine the relationship between digit and thumb range of motion of the dominant hand and the perception of function in self-care activities amongst the well elderly population. Data was collected from a sample of 100 elders living independently in Chautauqua County, NY. The results of this study show that the range of motion measurements of this sample are statistically significantly lower than the normative data found by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (1965). The correlation between the mean scores for perception of function in self-care activities and range of motion was weakly negative and not found to be statistically significant. Overall, the self-report of perception of self-care function for the sample was found to be highly independent, even though the range of motion of the digits and thumb of the subjects was found to be significantly less than the standards.