Comparison of gluteus medius strength between individuals with obesity and normal-weight individuals: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background The hip abductor muscles, primarily the gluteus medius, play an important role in stabilizing the pelvis during gait. Gluteus medius weakness is associated with biomechanical changes and musculoskeletal disorders. Individuals with obesity can have great difficulty maintaining abductor muscular function due to being overweight and possibly experiencing a decrease in muscle mass. However, it is still unclear whether the musculature of person with obesity can compensate for these changes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare gluteus medius strength between individuals with obesity and normal-weight individuals using a digital hand-held dynamometer. Methods Twenty-five participants with obesity (BMI > 35 kg/m2) were matched for sex, age, and height with normal-weight individuals. Gluteus medius strength was measured by a single examiner using a belt-stabilized hand-held digital dynamometer placed on the knee of the individuals positioned in lateral decubitus. Three measurements were recorded with rest intervals, and only the highest value measured for each limb was used for analysis. The differences between pairs were calculated, and the normality of the data was assessed using the Shapiro-Wilk test (p < 0.05). The matrices of the variables were standardized and analysed using principal component analysis (PCA). Results For the strength variables (Newtons) on both sides, no significant differences were detected between the groups (p > 0.05). However, significant differences were detected in these variables between the groups (p < 0.05) when the measurements were normalized to body weight (Newtons/kilograms). PCA indicated that both the absolute and normalized values of strength are lower in participants with obesity than in normal-weight. Conclusions These findings suggest that people with obesity could have the same or less strength (PCA) to move more mass, which may imply a relative weakness that induces functional limitations.

Influences of cognitive load on center of pressure trajectory of young male adults with excess weight during gait initiation

“…However, the increased CoP path length in this study also suggests that obese young male adults could have an unbalance in muscle strength between the adductor and abductor muscles, influencing their postural control in ML direction during GI. The reason for this finding is that dynamic postural balance control needs appropriate intensity muscle contractions of all proximal muscles of the lower limbs during walking, but obese individuals have a relative weakness in the specific contractile performance and quality of hip abductor muscles (Fenato et al, 2021), like gluteus medius, compared with normal-weight ones. The partial lower extremity muscle over-contraction destabilizes the overall body frame and increases the challenge of maintaining postural control in the frontal plane for obese individuals.…”

Reliability of hand-held dynamometer in measuring gluteus medius isometric muscle strength in healthy population

“… 13 Another latest study by Fenato RR found the relation of gluteus medius muscle strength with obesity and normal weight. 20 In the current study BMI was calculated for each participant, but no correlation of BMI was explored with the muscle strength assessed.…”