• Şule Keçelioğlu and Selnur Narin Aral.
• Dep. of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University, TR-10200 Bandırma-Balıkesir, Turkey. Tel +90266 7170117. skecelioglu@bandirma.edu.tr.
• Med Probl Perform Art. 2023 Mar 1; 38 (1): 233023-30.

ObjectiveDexterity is one of the abilities required for different types of work and is divided into manual and finger dexterity. The aim of this study was to examine whether there was a difference in manual and finger dexterity between musicians and nonmusicians, and between musicians divided by instrument groups and nonmusicians.MethodsThe study included 128 participants (96 musicians, 32 nonmusicians). Musicians were divided into three groups as wind, string, and keyboard instrument players. The Minnesota Manual Dexterity Test (MMDT) for manual dexterity and Purdue Pegboard Test (PPT) for finger dexterity were used. Independent samples t-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used for MMDT, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for PPT between musicians and nonmusicians. The Kruskal-Wallis H test and one-way ANOVA were used for comparisons of the MMDT and PPT between nonmusicians and musicians divided by instrument groups.ResultsThere were no differences between musicians and nonmusicians in terms of MMDT and PPT (p>0.05). When musicians were divided by instrument groups, there was a statistically significant difference in only the left-hand subtest of PPT (p=0.038). In pairwise comparisons, significant differences were found between wind and string instrument players (p=0.036), keyboard and string players (p=0.012), and nonmusicians and string players (p=0.015). Wind and keyboard players and nonmusicians were more successful than string players in terms of left-hand finger dexterity.ConclusionFuture studies can be designed that investigate the effects of bilateral asymmetrical-symmetrical training on finger dexterity of the left hand and evaluate the performances of musicians in areas other than music.

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