Context
The hip abductor muscles, mainly the gluteus medius, are responsible for controlling hip adduction in a closed kinetic chain. Frontal plane knee alignment, assessed during functional activities such squatting, jumping and running, may overload joint structures, like the anterior cruciate ligament and patellofemoral joint. The hand-held dynamometer is reliable and effective for testing the muscular strength of the hip abductors.
Objectives
1. To assess the concurrent validity between the gluteus medius clinical test and a maximum isometric force test of the hip abductors using the hand-held dynamometer; (2) to determine the intra and inter-examiner reliability for the application of the gluteus medius clinical test; and (3) to describe reference values of gluteus medius clinical test on a population of youth athletes.
Design
Cross-sectional.
Methods
Thirty healthy individuals were recruited for validity and reliability testing. On the first day, participants performed the maximal isometric test of the hip abductors, measured via hand-held dynamometry. On the following week, the gluteus medius clinical test was performed. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC
2,2
) were computed for the reliability analysis, with a 95% confidence interval. To generate reference values, the gluteus medius clinical test was performed on 273 athletes.
Results
The results of this study indicated a weak positive correlation (r = 0.436, p = 0.001) between tests, which indicates that they examine different domains of gluteus medius muscle function, likely endurance and muscle strength. The magnitude of computed ICCs (>0.95) indicates excellent intra- and inter-examiner reliability.
Conclusion
The findings of the current study indicate that the gluteus medius clinical test is reliable and examines a domain of muscular function not fully captured by HHD. The clinical test developed in this study is low-cost and can be included for gluteus medius assessment.
Level of evidence
Level 3.