Article

Inadequate levels of hip passive joint stiffness have been associated with the occurrence of movement dysfunction, development of pathologies and reduction in
performance. Clinical tests, designed to evaluate hip joint stiffness, may allow
the identification of improper stiffness levels. The purpose of this study was to
determine the concurrent validity as well as the intra- and inter-examiners
reliabilities of clinical measures used to assess hip passive stiffness during
internal rotation. Fifteen healthy participants were subjected to test-retest
evaluations by two examiners. Two clinical measures were performed: 'position of
first detectable resistance' and 'change in passive resistance torque'. The
results of these tests were compared to the passive stiffness measured with an
isokinetic dynamometer
(gold standard measure).
A significant correlation was
found between the stiffness measured with the isokinetic dynamometer and the
clinical measures of 'position of first detectable resistance'
(r=-0.85 to -0.86,
p<0.001) and 'change in passive resistance torque' (r=0.78 to 0.84, p</=0.001).
The Intraclass Correlation Coefficients for intra- and inter-examiners
reliabilities varied from 0.95 to 0.99. Thus, the results demonstrated that the
clinical measures have adequate validity and reliability for obtaining
information on hip passive stiffness during internal rotation.
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Langue : ANGLAIS