Hand Grasping Techniques on Eliciting the Grasp Reflex in Patients With Dementia

The patient will then be asked to keep the arms at 90 degrees and the researcher will slightly stroke palm and fingers of both hands of the patient simultaneously. After completion of each technique, the presence or absence of the response will be noted. In addition, the prominence of the response on the rating scale will be obtained as explained below. The scaling of the grasp response is as followed: 1. Flexion at the distal interphalangeal joint of the hand 2. Flexion at the proximal interphalangeal joint of the hand 3. Flexion at the metacarpal-phalangeal joint of the hand

The patient will be asked to put their arms at 90 degrees and the researcher will hold one hand at the wrist and dorsum of the palm and lightly stroke the palm and fingers. The patient will be instructed to relax hands and not hold on while doing the grasp and see if the response persists. The same technique will be repeated for the patient's other hand.