Published Paper Details:

Background & Introduction-Ageing is an irreversible process; the effects of a sedentary lifestyle are very evident in most people due to inactivity. When physical capacity falls below the ability required for the performance of daily tasks, functional limitations and a loss of independence may occur. Hence aim of the study is to see the Effect of functional exercises versus conservative treatment on pain, function and hand grip strength in elderly Subjects. METHODOLOGY-This experimental study was conducted on 30 male and female subjects (aged above 60 years) without any severe illness. 30 subjects were divided into 2 groups, Group A was taught functional tasks exercise and Group B was taught conservative exercise for dominant hands, three days per week for total of 4 weeks. For the outcome measures, Hand functions was evaluated through Michigan hand outcome questionnaire and grip strength was measured using handheld dynamometer. Statistical analysis & Result - The data collected was tabulated and data analysis was done by using the IBM SPSS software version 26 and Microsoft excel was used for graphs .The mean and standard deviation of all the variables were analyzed. Non parametric test were used since the data was not normally distributed and the result were considered significant if p<=0.05. There was significant effect in pre and post mean values of functional tasks exercise group and conservative exercise groups on grip strength ,functions in dominant hand (p<=0.05) . But on comparing the mean difference values of hand grip strength and Michigan Hand Outcome measure score between both the functional tasks exercise (Group A) and conservative exercises (Group B), functional tasks exercise shows more significant effect in improving the grip strength and hand functions in elderly subjects. Conclusion- Both functional tasks exercise group (Group A) and conservative exercise group (Group B) have significant effect on improvement on hand function and grip strength in elderly subjects. But statistically, functional tasks exercise shows more significant effect in improving the grip strength and hand functions in elderly subjects.