EFFECT OF PROTECTIVE GLOVES ON HAND MOVEMENT - AN EXPLORATORY-STUDY

This exploratory study was conducted to determine whether wearing prot ective gloves limits the range of motion that the hand can complete. T he kinematic motion of the hand/wrist/forearm of two participants was analysed during the performance of two tasks typical of pesticide appl icators. High-speed cinematography was used to collect data which were then digitized and combined to produce three-dimensional data. Graphs of the transformed data showed that in comparison with the barehanded state, the protective glove decreased the abduction/adduction and sup ination/pronation ranges that the hand could complete. Extension/flexi on did not appear to be affected. Overall, kinematic motion of the han d appeared to decrease while wearing protective gloves.