The Effects of Age on Motor-nerve Conduction Velocity

Abstract

This study was designed to determine whether a relationship exists between age and motor-nerve conduction velocity. The median and ulnar nerves of 121 subjects were studied bilaterally. There was no statistically significant coefficient correlation for either nerve when subjects were grouped into decades. The coefficient correlations for the entire population were .624 and .559, which were statistically significant at the .01 level for the median and ulnar nerves, respectively. It was found by means of a t-test that, after the age of fifty, motornerve conduction velocity was statistically influenced by age (.001 level of significance for both nerves). Mean conduction velocities and terminal latencies were also calculated for the entire population. Hand dominance failed to demonstrate any influence on motor-nerve conduction velocity.