Persistent Unilateral Force Production Deficits Following Hand Injury in Experienced Climbers: A Reliability and Retrospective Injury Study

Dominic Orth*, Ninka Slebioda, Antonio Cavada, Nikki van Bergen, Nicolas Deschle, Marco Hoozemans

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Introduction: In climbing, research is needed to guide clinical and training advice regarding strength differences between hands. The objectives of this study were to establish test-retest reliability of a field-based apparatus measuring sport-specific unilateral isometric hand strength and to investigate whether these measures detect between-hand differences in climbers with and without a history of unilateral hand injury. Methods: A reliability and case-control injury study was carried out. Seventeen intermediate-advanced climbers without and 15 intermediate-advanced climbers with previous unilateral hand injury participated. Unilateral isometric fingertip flexor strength was assessed during maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and peak rate of force development (RFD) tests in full-crimp overhead position. The magnitude of within-group between-hand differences was calculated using a generalized estimating equation to evaluate if prior injury was associated with lower MVC and RFD outcomes and whether hand dominance influenced the magnitude of these effects. The control group was assessed 1 wk later to determine intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for all measures. Results: The MVC (ICC 0.91–0.93) and the RFD (ICC 0.92–0.83) tests demonstrated moderate-to-high reliability. When accounting for handedness, those with prior injury showed 7% (P=0.004) reduced MVC and 13% (P=0.008) reduced RFD in the injured hand. The nondominant hand was also significantly weaker in MVC (11%, P<0.001) and RFD (12%, P=0.02) outcomes. For uninjured climbers, MVC and RFD were not significantly higher in the dominant hand (differing by 4% and 5%, respectively). Conclusions: Previous climbing injury was associated with persistent weakness in the injured limb and exacerbated handedness effects. Therefore, recommendations for rehabilitation should be considered.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)22-30
Number of pages9
JournalWilderness and Environmental Medicine
Volume34
Issue number1
Early online date1 Mar 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Financial/Material Support: The project was financially supported by the NWO-TTW Phase 1 Take-Off grant, 17558, awarded to Dominic Orth (principal investigator). Siro Otten, Hans Agricola, and Danny Koops provided technical electrical engineering and hardware design support (following initial reliability testing of the instrument used).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Wilderness Medical Society

Funding

Financial/Material Support: The project was financially supported by the NWO-TTW Phase 1 Take-Off grant, 17558, awarded to Dominic Orth (principal investigator). Siro Otten, Hans Agricola, and Danny Koops provided technical electrical engineering and hardware design support (following initial reliability testing of the instrument used).

Keywords

  • field test
  • fingertip strength
  • handedness
  • rate of force development
  • sport-specific test

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