Table 3.

Comparison of pinch strength of the second finger between absence and presence of the palmaris longus muscle in the right and left hands

	Years	PLM	Number of boys	Pinch strength of the second finger (kg)	p value	Number of girls	Pinch strength of the second finger (kg)	p value
				Mean ± SD			Mean ± SD
Right	6–7	Present	40	1.95 ± 0.51	0.472	39	1.90 ± 0.76	0.531
		Absent	14	1.83 ± 0.63		26	1.80 ± 0.52
	8–9	Present	86	2.17 ± 0.62	0.267	68	1.82 ± 0.56	0.195
		Absent	35	2.03 ± 0.62		36	1.99 ± 0.74
	10–11	Present	100	2.56 ± 0.72	0.501	74	2.27 ± 0.64	0.518
		Absent	30	2.46 ± 0.55		37	2.19 ± 0.60
Left	6–7	Present	37	1.83 ± 0.63	0.425	37	1.64 ± 0.58	0.809
		Absent	17	1.69 ± 055		28	1.68 ± 0.69
	8–9	Present	88	2.16 ± 0.60	0.604	66	1.73 ± 0.60	0.297
		Absent	33	2.10 ± 0.63		38	1.88 ± 0.84
	10–11	Present	95	2.55 ± 0.77	0.530	72	2.24 ± 0.68	0.087
		Absent	35	2.46 ± 0.63		39	2.01 ± 0.60

PLM palmaris longus muscle, SD standard deviation