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Abnormal hip physical examination findings in asymptomatic female soccer athletes

  • Sports Medicine
  • Published:
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

Examination of the hip provides information regarding risk for pre-arthritic hip disorders, knee injuries, and low back pain. The purpose of this study was to report a hip screening examination of asymptomatic female soccer athletes and to test the hypothesis that these findings vary by competition experience.

Methods

Asymptomatic females from a youth soccer club, a college, and a professional team were evaluated. Passive hip range of motion, hip abduction strength, and hip provocative tests were assessed. Data were compared for the grade/middle school, high school, college, and professional athletes.

Results

One hundred and seventy-two athletes with a mean age of 16.7 ± 5 years (range 10–30) participated. Professional athletes had less flexion (HF) for both hips (p < 0.0001) and less internal rotation (IR) for the preferred kicking leg (p < 0.05) compared to all other groups. Grade/middle school athletes had more external rotation in both hips as compared to all other groups (p < 0.0001). For the preferred kicking leg, collegiate athletes had less hip abduction strength as compared to other groups (p < 0.01). Positive provocative hip tests were found in 22 % of all players and 36 % of the professionals. In professionals, a positive provocative test was associated with ipsilateral decreased HF (p = 0.04).

Conclusion

Asymptomatic elite female soccer athletes with the most competition experience had less bilateral hip flexion and preferred kicking leg IR than less-experienced athletes. Positive provocative hip tests were found in 22 % of athletes. Future studies are needed to show whether these findings link to risk for intra-articular hip or lumbar spine and knee disorders.

Level of evidence

III.

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Acknowledgments

This publication was made possible by Grant Numbers 1 UL1 RR024992-01, 1 TL1 RR024995-01 and 1 KL2 RR 024994-01 from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of NCRR or NIH. Information on NCRR is available at http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/. Information on Re-engineering the Clinical Research Enterprise can be obtained from http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/clinicalresearch/overview-translational.asp.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, One Barnes Plaza, Suite 11300, St. Louis, MO, 64110, USA

    Heidi Prather, Devyani Hunt, Monica Rho & Robert H. Brophy

  2. Rehab One, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Ted Yemm

  3. University of Buffalo, SUNY School of Medicine, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Kathryn Fong

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  1. Heidi Prather
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  2. Devyani Hunt
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  3. Monica Rho
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  4. Ted Yemm
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  5. Kathryn Fong
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  6. Robert H. Brophy
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Correspondence to Heidi Prather.

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Prather, H., Hunt, D., Rho, M. et al. Abnormal hip physical examination findings in asymptomatic female soccer athletes. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 23, 2106–2114 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-013-2713-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-013-2713-7

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