ABSTRACT

Background and purpose: Gloves are often necessary and used by the medical professionals, mechanics, cooks and in packing industries. The gloves provides protection from infections, physical harms. Some study stated that there is no differences found in grip strength and dexterity while wearing gloves. But other study stated that the type and material of glove is made up of can affects amount of force needed to grip an object. The present study is aimed when to wear the gloves and when not to wear the gloves in their work place. Objective of the study was to determine whether the use of gloves can affect the coordination of the hand, in a healthy population compared  with no gloves using Jebsen hand function test(JHFT).

Method: The study included fifty healthy subjects ranging between 18 to 25 years of age. Jebsen hand function test were used to observe the coordination and function of the hand with no glove and with different types of gloves.

Result: The result showed there is better coordination found in use of surgical rubber gloves.

Conclusion: This study concluded that surgical rubber glove shows better coordination compared with cotton knitted glove, plastic glove and no glove.

Keywords: Gloves, dexterity, coordination, Jebsen hand function test (JHFT )