Asymmetry of Hand Aaea in the Japanese Adult

Abstract

The palmar face of the hand area is considered to be an index of the contact range of the grasp or scoop motion. Since little attention has been paid to this problem, the hand areas of Japanese adults were measured. This study was carried out using 86 males (right handed 56, left handed 30) and 53 females (right handed 38, left handed 15). The contours of the hand, including the fingers, were traced from the palmar side onto transparent paper and the areas measured by the polar planimeter. The mean areas of male and female hands were approximately 140cm^2 and 120cm^2, respectively. It was also revealed in this report that the average male hand was smaller than that of an athlete. In both sexes, the average dominant side surpassed the non-dominant side (as shown in the report on other dimension of the hand). The ratios of the non-dominant hands to the dominant hands were between .97 to .99. In some cases, the non-dominant side area surpassed the dominant side area. Such being 21.4 % of right handed males, 23.3 % of left-handed males, 15.8 % of right hand females and 40.0 % of left handed females.