This study was designed to determine which of five fixed wrist alignments (straight 0°, 10° extension, 10° flexion, 10° radial deviation, and 10° ulnar deviation) would produce the least amount of motion in the other arm joints. Ten subjects were studied as they performed four activities of daily living (drinking from a cup, eating with a spoon, eating with the hand, and zipping a jacket), with and without wearing a wrist splint. Two degrees of freedom (DOF) of shoulder girdle motion, two DOF of glenohumeral motion, one DOF of elbow flexion, and one DOF of head motion were measured using a Vicon 140(TM) motion analysis system. Results showed all motions to be similar regardless of the fixed alignment. The only significant (p .05) difference was that, for the Cup and Spoon ADLs, radial deviation resulted in approximately 7° less elbow flexion than the other alignments. These findings suggest that an optimal alignment does not exist among those tested.
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