Time spent on the smartphone does not relate to manual dexterity in young adults

Abstract

Background: The Grooved Pegboard Test (GPT) is widely adopted to evaluate manual dexterity, it presents normative data but the test is influenced by different factors. The influence of time spent on smartphones has not been considered before, for this reason, the objective of this study was to evaluate if smartphone use influences the time to complete the GPT. A total of 38 (21 women; 17 men) young adults 20.7 (1.5) years participated in the study. The time spent on the smartphones during the last seven days was recorded through the device itself and the GPT performance was measured. A correlation analysis between the time spent on the smartphone and GPT was performed while the t-test was adopted to evaluate gender differences. Results: No statistically significant differences were detected between men and women in the time to complete the GPT (p = 0.20) and in the time spent on the smartphone (p = 0.87). The GPT and the time spent using the smartphone were not correlated (r = 0.044, p = 0.78). Conclusion: The time spent on the smartphone by young adults does not influence the time to complete the GPT, indicating that smartphone use does not influence measures of manual dexterity.