A description of grip strength in preschool children.

The purpose of this research project was to provide occupational therapists with preliminary descriptive data on the spherical grip strength of 3- to 5 1/2-year-old children using the Martin Vigorimeter. Three hundred and eighty boys and girls were tested. Standardized positioning and instructions were followed. The mean of three trials was used as the grip strength score for each hand. The right and left hands were alternated during testing to allow a 20-second rest between trials. A repeated measures design multiple analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that the mean grip strength scores increased linearly with an increase in age (p less than .001) and that the right grip strength score was greater than the left (p less than .001). The descriptive data were reported separately for the right and left hands by age increments of 6 months. Two tables of mean grip strength scores and their standard deviations were generated for clinical use.