Evaluation of the abduction angles between hand fingers

This study aimed to reveal the angular values of abduction between the fingers and evaluated the right-left sides angular asymmetry and the differences between the genders. Participants were asked to place their hand fingers on a table with maximum finger abduction. Hand photographs were taken at a distance of 50 cm on the vertical axis, focusing on the metacarpophalangeal joint of the middle finger. Angular measurements between fingers on the photographs were taken by using the Image-J program. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS software. The mean values of the abduction angles between thumb-index, index-middle, middle-ring, and ring-little fingers on the right hand were 53.94º, 19.99º, 17.29º and 27.72º in males; 48.38º, 20.78º, 18.23º and 29.41º in females, respectively. On the left hand, the mean values of abduction angles between thumb-index, index-middle, middle-ring, and ring-little fingers were 54.83º, 21.16º, 20.15º and 29.93º in males; 49.38º, 22.35º, 19.93º and 31.55º in females, respectively. The average abduction angles of the fingers are thumb-index> ring-little > index-middle> middle-ring, from largest to smallest. When the right-left sides were compared for abduction angles, a significant difference was found for the middle-ring and ring-little fingers in females and the index-middle, middle-ring and ring-little fingers in males (p<0.005). A significant difference was found in only thumb-index abduction angles in the comparison between genders, p<0.005. The normative descriptive angular data of our society obtained from the study will contribute to the literature revealing the anatomical differences between different racial and ethnic groups.