The Click Test: A Novel Tool to Quantify the Age-Related Decline of Fast Motor Sequencing of the Thumb

摘要

Background: The thumb plays a critical role for manual tasks during the activities of daily life and the incidence of neurological or musculoskeletal disorders affecting the voluntary movements of the thumb is high in the elderly. There is currently no tool to assess repetitive motorsequencing of the thumb during ageing. Objectives: To report a novel procedure (the Click Test) assessing the effects of ageing on fast motor sequencing of the thumb. Method: Healthy subjects (n = 252; mean age +/- SD: 49.76 +/- 19.97 years; range: 19-89 years; F/M: 151/101) wereasked to perform fast repeated flexion/extension movements of the thumb using a mechanical counter. Results: Motor performances (assessed by the number of clicks during 3 time periods: 15, 30 and 45 sec), significantly decreased as a function of age for both the dominant (age effect;p Conclusion: The Click Test is an entirely novel and very low cost tool to reliably discriminate the ageingeffects upon the performances during fast repetitive motor sequencing of the thumb. The potential clinical and research applications for motor functions are multiple, especially in acute and chronic neurological disorders affecting the thumb as well as in the field of rheumatology and orthopedics.