Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41813425›Full record

ArticleJMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologies2026

Comparison of Upper Body Joint and Hand Motions in Eating Solid Foods With Chopsticks and Semisolid Foods With a Spoon in Healthy Males and Females: Observational Study.

Jun Nakatake, Shogo Maeda, Shigeaki Miyazaki, Hideki Arakawa, Etsuo Chosa

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologies, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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0 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Jun NakatakeRehabilitation Unit, University of Miyazaki Hospital, 5200 Kihara Kiyotake-cho, Miyazaki-shi, Miyazaki, 889-1692, Japan, 81 985-85-9849, 81 985-85-9847.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3691-8609
Shogo MaedaRehabilitation Unit, University of Miyazaki Hospital, 5200 Kihara Kiyotake-cho, Miyazaki-shi, Miyazaki, 889-1692, Japan, 81 985-85-9849, 81 985-85-9847.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0009-2493-2172
Shigeaki MiyazakiRehabilitation Unit, University of Miyazaki Hospital, 5200 Kihara Kiyotake-cho, Miyazaki-shi, Miyazaki, 889-1692, Japan, 81 985-85-9849, 81 985-85-9847.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6216-2000
Hideki ArakawaRehabilitation Unit, University of Miyazaki Hospital, 5200 Kihara Kiyotake-cho, Miyazaki-shi, Miyazaki, 889-1692, Japan, 81 985-85-9849, 81 985-85-9847.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0002-9129-0981
Etsuo ChosaDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, Junwakai Memorial Hospital, Miyazaki-shi, Miyazaki, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1205-8694

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Foods are not only masticated and swallowed but they also influence the choice of utensils and their use. Comparing the contexts in which different utensils are used with each food form could help in the assessment of individuals experiencing eating difficulties in the food culture unique to East Asian countries. Objective: Considering East Asian rehabilitation practices, in this study, we evaluated upper body movements involved in eating pickles (solid food) and yogurt (semisolid food) using chopsticks and a spoon, respectively. Methods: Upper body kinematics, including joint and hand spatiotemporal parameters, were quantified using a 3D inertial motion-capturing system and analyzed in healthy males (n=22; mean age 27.9, SD 5.5 years) and females (n=21; mean age 26.9, SD 4.7 years) across 4 feeding phases (reaching, picking it up, transporting, and inserting food into the mouth) by comparing utensils for eating respective food forms using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results: Both sexes showed smaller maximum shoulder flexion angles with chopsticks for eating solid food across all phases (Males: reaching phase, P<.001; picking foods up phase, P=.04; transport phase, P<.001; and mouth phase, P<.001. Females: reaching phase, P<.001; picking foods up phase, P=.007; transport phase, P<.001; and mouth phase, P<.001.). Elbow, forearm, and wrist ulnar deviation angle changes were smaller using chopsticks during the "picking up" phase (in both sexes, P<.001) compared with using a spoon. However, greater elbow joint angle changes were found during the "reaching" phase (males, P=.002; females, P=.03) and greater forearm angle changes were found during the "transporting" phase (males, P=.01; females, P=.001) with chopsticks than with spoons. Regarding hand spatiotemporal parameters, the chopstick condition involved shorter actual distances (males, P<.001; females, P<.001), lower distance efficiency (males, P=.04; females, P=.001), and slower speed (males, P=.001; females, P<.001) during food transport. Conclusions: The joint angle and hand spatiotemporal parameter characteristics observed during chopstick use for eating solid foods and spoon use for eating semisolid foods in healthy individuals could serve as reference movements in individuals with sensorimotor dysfunctions and inform the selection of adaptive utensils in rehabilitation practice.

Indexed as

activities of daily livingbiomechanical phenomenanecktorsoupper extremity

Identifiers

PMID41813425
PMCPMC12978976

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.