Older age relates to worsening of fine motor skills: a population-based study of middle-aged and elderly persons.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

In a population-based study of 1,912 community-dwelling persons of 45 years and older, we investigated the relation between age and fine motor skills using the Archimedes spiral-drawing test. Also, we studied the effect of brain volume on fine motor skills.

Methods

Participants were required to trace a template of a spiral on an electronic drawing board. Clinical scores from this test were obtained by visual assessment of the drawings. Quantitative measures were objectively determined from the recorded data of the drawings. As tremor is known to occur increasingly with advancing age, we also rated drawings to assess presence of tremor.

Results

We found presence of a tremor in 1.3% of the drawings. In the group without tremor, we found that older age was r

SUBMITTER: Hoogendam YY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4174769 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature