Abstract
Rasch A, Dalén N, Berg HE. Test methods to detect hip and knee muscle weakness and
gait disturbance in patients with hip osteoarthritis.
Objective
To evaluate test methods for hip and knee muscle weakness and gait disturbance.
Design
Test-retest.
Setting
Orthopedic university clinic.
Participants
Ten young (age, 36±6y) and 13 elderly (age, 69±8y) healthy volunteers and 11 patients
(age, 69±8y) with unilateral hip osteoarthritis (OA) were tested for muscular strength.
Twenty-five volunteers (age, 42±14y) underwent gait analysis.
Interventions
A dynamometer assessing maximal voluntary isometric force of hip and knee muscles
and an optosensor walkway detecting limp were developed. Tests evaluated reproducibility
and tolerance in patients with OA and elderly subjects.
Main Outcome Measures
Relative coefficient of variation (CV%) and force (in newtons).
Results
CV% for unilateral strength measurements ranged from 7% to 12% for specific muscle
groups. CV% for gait parameters ranged from 4% to 8%, except for the double-support
phase. Tests were well tolerated, and no patient had to discontinue because of fatigue.
Differences related to sex, age, and disease were detected.
Conclusions
Our dynamometer system provides reliable measurements of hip and knee muscle strength
in young and old people, and variation is comparable to previous data. Our photocell
technique for gait analysis is reliable in people with normal gait. Both methods are
attractive because they are affordable, nonstationary, and easy to use.
Key Words
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Article info
Footnotes
Supported by the Tore Nilssons Foundation, Stohnes Foundation, and the Foundations of the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare.
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.
Identification
Copyright
© 2005 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
