Psoriatic arthritis weakens hand strength

Patients with psoriatic arthritis exhibit reduced hand grip strength, with the deterioration of skill, coordination, and functionality of hand commensurate with the severity of psoriatic arthritis, a study has found.

Researchers looked at 36 psoriatic arthritis patients and 20 individuals without the disease (control) to examine whether psoriatic arthritis had any effect on the strength, proprioception, skill, coordination, and functional condition of the hand.

Disease activity was measured with the Disease Activity Score 28, grip strength with a dynamometer, and pinch strength with pinch gauge dynamometers. A goniometer was used to assess joint position sensation, while a mobile application facilitated evaluation of finger skills. All participants also completed the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire (MHQ) and underwent the Purdue Pegboard test to estimate the coordination and skill of both hands.

Results showed that compared with controls, patients had much lower grip and pinch strength (p<0.05 for both). Meanwhile, there was no significant difference seen in the joint position sense measurements and the mobile application scores between the two groups (p>0.05).

Psoriatic arthritis patients scored lower on the Purdue Pegboard test but only for both hands and assembly subsections (p<0.05 for both).

Disease Activity Score 28 was significantly associated with grip and pinch strength, mobile application scores, all Purdue Pegboard subsections, and left-hand joint position sense average error amount. MHQ also correlated with grip and pinch strength.