The Relationship Between Different Pencil Grip Patterns and Legibility of Handwriting in Normal First-Grade Students

Background and aim: Despite of necessity of legible handwriting for primary students, difficulties in handwriting present in 10-30% of these children. The purpose of this study was to determine relationship between the legibility of handwriting and different pencil grip patterns. Material and methods: in this cross-sectional study, fifty-three first-grade students were randomly selected and divided into one of the following groups according to their types of pencil grip: dynamic tripod, lateral tripod, lateral quadruped and other types. The legibility of handwriting was scored by the handwriting legibility checklist of Persian language. Correlation between handwriting legibility and pencil grip was evaluated by chi-square test. Results: Data analysis did not show any meaningful relationship between handwriting legibility and different types of pencil grip. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that different types of pencil grip have no considerable effect on legibility of handwriting during solving an illegible handwriting. Emphasis should be placed on the other factors rather than pencil grip.