Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
TURKIYE KLINIKLERI TIP BILIMLERI DERGISI, cilt.32, sa.6, ss.1702-1709, 2012 (SCI-Expanded)
Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine the alterations in the handwriting characteristics of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients acquired along one year at three different time points by using statistical shape analysis. Material and Methods: The handwriting samples of multiple sclerosis patients and control subjects were taken at three different time points. Statistical shape analysis of handwriting characteristics was performed. Principal coordinate analysis was applied to tangent coordinate which derived from Procrustes analysis. Results: Analysis of the handwriting samples at different time points suggested that upper case letters, both in the same box and in separate boxes, showed more changes in MS patients. Lower case letters in the same box showed more changes in MS patients while lower case letters in separate boxes showed more changes in the control subjects. Conclusion: There are only a few studies about analysis of handwriting by statistical shape analysis. In recent years, it has been observed that there has been considerable interest in the statistical analysis of shape. This study has imaginative aspects as it analyzed the handwriting characteristics of MS patients by using statistical shape analysis for the first time. We hope that this study enables further studies using this method of application.