TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2013//
TI  - Patterns of hand preference and unintentional injuries among Indian attempted hand switchers and hand non-switchers
JO  - Laterality
A1  - Suar, Damodar
A1  - Mandal, Manas K.
A1  - Misra, Indiwar
A1  - Suman, Shanti
SP  - 652
EP  - 670
VL  - 18
IS  - 6
N2  - This study examines the patterns of hand preference and unintentional injuries of attempted hand switchers and hand non-switchers. Data were collected from 3698 participants in Kharagpur, India, on measures of hand preference, hand switching, and unintentional injuries. The direction of left- or right-handedness was on the basis of hand used for the item "writing on paper" and the degree of handedness was based on the average score of remaining items in the handedness inventory. Results reveal that, among attempted hand-switchers, learned right-handers were not right-sided in hand continuum as the natural right-handers, but left-handers were left-sided as natural left-handers. With increasing age the learned right-handers become less right-sided and natural right-handers become more right-sided. Females (males) are found to be more right-handed than males (females) among learned right-handers (natural right-handers). On the direction of handedness, the learned right-handers have more than twice the risk of unintentional injuries than the natural right- and left-handers. On degree of handedness, the use of inconsistent left and both hands among natural left-handers, the use of inconsistent right and both hands among natural right-handers, and the use of weak right hand among learned right-handers increase their vulnerability to unintentional injuries. Any deviation from the genetic make-up in hand use elevates the risk of unintentional injuries, suggesting that one should not change the biological hand.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1357-650X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1357650X.2012.742532
ID  - ref1
ER  -