Magni NE, et al. - The objectives of this study are to figure out if hand left/right judgements, tactile acuity, and body perception are impaired in people with hand osteoarthritis (OA), investigate the connection between left-right judgements, tactile acuity and hand pain and evaluate the relationships between sensorimotor measures (left/right judgements, tactile acuity) and measures of hand function in people with hand OA. These outcomes provide proof of specific brain-related changes in working body schema in people with hand OA.

Methods

• For this research, they designed a case-control comparison study.
• Twenty patients with symptomatic hand OA and 19 healthy pain-free controls undertook a hand left/right judgment task, a control left/right judgement task, two-point discrimination (TPD) threshold testing (evaluating tactile acuity), a neglect-like symptoms questionnaire (assessing body perception) and several established measures of hand function.

Results

• In this study, they observed neglect-like symptoms were experience more frequently in the hand OA group (P < 0.05).
• People with hand OA were slower (P < 0.05) and less accurate (P < 0.05) in the hand left/right judgement task when compared to healthy controls, with no significant difference in the control task.
• Significant associations were found between hand left/right judgement reaction time and pain intensity (P < 0.05) and accuracy and pain intensity (P < 0.05).
• TPD was not different between groups, and no correlation was observed between TPD and left/right judgement performance.
• There was no association between left/right judgement performance and measures of hand function (all P > 0.05).
• However, TPD (tactile acuity) was associated with several measures of hand function (all P < 0.05).