Standard reference norms for tactile localization acuity in upper limb among the asymptomatic middle school children: A Normative Research
Description
Background: Tactile localization (TL) is one of the standard assessments to be performed under combined cortical sensory assessment. TL is the ability to locate the point of sensory contact, till date there is no normal reference available for estimating TL. Purpose: To calculate the normative reference of TL among primary and middle school going children aged between eight and 13 years. Methods: Three sixty-five healthy primary and middle school going children aged group between eight and 13 years were included in this study. Children with any neurological condition were excluded from the study. The sample was recruited by a stratified random sampling method from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. After the anthropometric measurements TL acuity established by PPTL technique. In this technique, the children were asked to relocate the point of contact made by the investigator over identified 15 areas and after that, the distance between the point of contact made by the principal investigator and the point of relocating made by the children is measured in centimeters. The mean of three readings was used to estimate TL acuity. Result: TL acuity range from 1 (0.5, 1.2) cm. in thumb to 1.5 (1, 2) cm. in medial forearm. TL acuity decreases with increasing age. There exist no significant (P<0.05) difference in the normative reference value between male and female in every 15 areas. Conclusion: Reference value of tactile acuity between male and female among the identified 15 areas. Normative reference values of TL acuity have been established among school children between eight and 13 years. Keywords: Acuity; Children; Forearm; Perception; Touch location.