General joint laxity in 1845 Swedish school children of different ages: age- and gender-specific distributions.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate general joint laxity in growing children with the aim of determining a cut-off point for joint hypermobility.


METHODS
Using the Beighton score, 1845 children from 48 geographically randomly selected schools were evaluated for general joint laxity. The Beighton score evaluates the ability to perform a selection of manoeuvres involving five different joints. The children made up three different age groups (9, 12 and 15 y old) at the time of testing and were approximately equally distributed concerning age and gender in all groups.


RESULTS
There were significant differences in Beighton scores concerning both age and gender. Whereas boys presented significant decreases in the degree of general joint laxity with increasing age, girls presented the highest degree of general joint laxity at the age of 15. At all ages girls had a higher degree of general joint laxity


CONCLUSIONS
Based on this study of a normal population of Swedish school children, the normal distribution of general joint laxity as well as the limits for hypermobility is age and gender specific. It is necessary to take into consideration both age and gender if setting a cut-off point for hypermobility when evaluating general joint laxity in growing individuals.
Jansson
A
A
Department of Surgical Sciences, Section of Sports Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. anna.jansson@kirugi.ki.se
Saartok
T
T
Werner
S
S
Renström
P
P
D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007593:Joint Instability / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D007596:Joints / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology