Millenials may be losing their grip on technology

 “Don’t let me catch you one thumbing it!” is something you might hear me say as an ergonomist to friends, referring to the way they use their cell phone.  

Millennials are crushing it as far as adaptation of technology. Texting skills are at an all-time high but what about hand strength?

Two studies of Americans between the ages of 20-34 found that men and women younger than 30 have significantly weaker hand grips than those of a previous generation in 1985. This publication in the Journal of Hand Therapy suggest that it is time to reevaluate the definition of normal hand strength.

Hand strength norms are used as a reference by occupational and physical therapists to assess injury severity and recovery. Elizabeth Fain of Winston-Salem State University, who led the study with Cara Weatherford mentions "As a society, we're no longer agricultural or manufacturing ... What we're doing more now is technology-related, especially for millennials."

To investigate if newer generation millennials had diminished grip strength, Elizabeth Fain, et. al used a dynamometer on volunteers with no pre-existing conditions. The study showed that men between 20-24 years old in 1985 averaged a right-handed grip of 121 pounds and today, that number is only 101 pounds. The left-handed grip went from 105 to 99 pounds. Women in this study showed slightly less differences but also significant changes in strength.  

The co-author Fain recommends that healthcare standards should be updated about every decade making handgrip measurements well overdue for reassessment.