title: Does a pelvic belt reduce hip adduction weakness in pregnancy-related posterior pelvic girdle pain? A case-control study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The cause of non-specific lumbopelvic pain is unknown. Pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain seems to be a subgroup that deserves a specific treatment. One of the options is the use of a pelvic belt.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To objectify the influence of a pelvic belt in patients with pelvic girdle pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Outpatient clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 49 women with long-lasting posterior pelvic girdle pain and 37 parous women of the same age group without pelvic girdle pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  Hip adduction force was measured by asking the participant to squeeze a hand-held dynamometer between the knees. This was firstly performed without a pelvic belt and then with a pelvic belt. The increase of hip adduction force after applying the pelvic belt was expressed in percentages.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After tightening a pelvic belt hip adduction force increased 25.9±33.9% in patients with pelvic girdle pain (P<0.0001) and 1.0±8.6% in participants without (P=0.67). The difference between groups was significant (P<0.00001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A pelvic belt has a positive influence on hip adduction force in pregnancy-related posterior pelvic girdle pain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results show an objective positive effect of the pelvic belt in women with long-lasting pregnancy-related posterior pelvic girdle pain in a test-situation. The results support the idea that the use of a belt could be part of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation of those patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands - info@janmens.nl.
authors.forename: Jan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mens
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D009989:Orthotic Devices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D059388:Pelvic Girdle Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011379:Prognosis; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome