Shoulder Kinematics Predicts Lateral Asymmetries in Functional Tests of Hand Dexterity

The hand plays a central role in daily activities such as lifting, grasping, and manipulating objects. In the present study, we investigated shoulder kinematics of dominant and non-dominant arms while participants performed the Southampton Hand Assessment Procedure (SHAP) tasks. The statistical analysis revealed significant differences between shoulder angles from dominant and non-dominant sides for the SHAP’s activities of daily living. Conversely, the SHAP score could not detect differences when performing the tasks with dominant or non-dominant limbs. Correlation analysis between SHAP scores and shoulder angle revealed that shoulder kinematics is moderately correlated to SHAP outcomes, indicating the potential use in clinical applications to assess limb asymmetries and hand dexterity.