title: Clinical assessment of hip strength using a hand-held dynamometer is reliable.
abstract: Hip strength assessment plays an important role in the clinical examination of the hip and groin region. The primary aim of this study was to examine the absolute test-retest measurement variation concerning standardized strength assessments of hip abduction (ABD), adduction (ADD), external rotation (ER), internal rotation (IR), flexion (FLEX) and extension (EXT) using a hand-held dynamometer. Nine subjects (five males, four females), physically active for at least 2.5 h a week, were included. Twelve standardized isometric strength tests were performed twice with a 1-week interval in between by the same examiner. The test order was randomized to avoid systematic bias. Measurement variation between sessions was 3-12%. When the maximum value of four measurements was used, test-retest measurement variation was below 10% in 11 of the 12 individual hip strength tests and below 5% in five of the 12 tests. No systematic differences were present. Standardized strength assessment procedures of hip ABD, ER, IR, FLEX, with test-retest measurement variation below 5%, hip ADD below 6% and hip EXT below 8%, make it possible to determine even small changes in hip strength at the individual level.
authors: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Amager Hospital, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. kristianthorborg@hotmail.com
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Thorborg
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Petersen
authors: S P
authors: SP
authors: Magnusson
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Hölmich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006615:Hip / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D053581:Muscle Strength Dynamometer; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult