Adaptive Utensils Research: Adaptive Knives

In previous Blogs we have talked a lot about adaptive utensils.  Adaptive knives also fit into the adaptive utensils category.  In this Blog I will review an adaptive utensils research article that was conducted at Grand Valley State University.  The study was done in 2013 and is titled:  “Hand Pressure and Force:  Adapted Knives Compared to a Straight Knife”  The full text of the study is available at:  scholarworks@gvsu.edu.  This study is important as there are few studies that examine the effectiveness of adaptive utensils. 

The study compared the force and pressure used during a cutting task for three different knives.  Knife one was a standard serrated knife.  Knife two was called the DuoGlide knife and is commercially available and is also recommended by the Arthritis Foundation. 

Knife three was a knife with the handle oriented at a 90 degree angle to the handle.  It is assumed that this knife is commercially available but no information was provided.

Both the DuoGlide and the 90 degree knives had serrated blades.  There is previous research that a 90 handled tool provides the best biomechanical advantage.  Given this, the authors postulated that the 90 degree knife would require the least force and pressure compared to the other knives. 

There were 33 participants in the study.  There were 27 females and 6 males in the study.  The participants were all students at GVSU.  During data collection each participant used each of the three knives to cut through a pool noodle from a standing position.  The Novel Pliance-X force and pressure sensing system was used.  This required a force sensing wrap to be applied to the handle of the knives.  A brief qualitative assessment was also used which primarily involved the participant indicating their preferred knife.

After data collection the results indicated that the 90 degree handle knife required significantly more force and pressure to cut through the pool noodle.  The DuoGlide was the preferred knife and required significantly less pressure than the other two knives.

The qualitative results also favored the DuoGlide knife.  Four participants favored the standard knife, one preferred the 90 degree handle knife and 28 preferred the DuoGlide knife. 

It should be kept in mind that adaptive utensils are primarily used from a seated position when eating the food.  This study used a simulated IADL task of meal preparation using three different knives as the independent variable.  The authors also stated that no information about the sharpness quality of the knives was available.  Another limitation of the study is that pool noodles are porous and likely far less dense than typical food substances that will be cut with a knife. 

This is a well conducted and well written study that provides important information that the reader can use when evaluating adaptive utensils, particularly knives.  The study citation is included below.

Reference:

Hadecz,M. Schaefer, L. Simon, K.  “Hand Pressure and Force:  Adapted Knives Compared to a Straight Knife” (2013)  Hand and Upper extremity. 2.

Thanks for visiting today. If you are looking for more information on adaptive eating aids please visit our concise Guide To Adaptive Eating Aids. We also have other research article reviews related to adaptive eating and adaptive utensils. We also invite you to visit our adaptive eating aids shop and to contact us at anytime.