Physical impairments in longstanding hip and groin pain: Cross-sectional comparison of patients with hip-related pain or non-hip-related groin pain and healthy controls.

OBJECTIVES

To compare physical impairments between patients with hip-related pain and those with non-hip-related groin pain, and to compare both patient groups with healthy controls.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional.

PARTICIPANTS

Eighty-one hip and groin pain patients were consecutively included and categorized into having hip-related pain or non-hip-related groin pain. Twenty-eight healthy controls were recruited.

SETTINGS

Tertiary care.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

All participants performed physical impairment testing including hip ROM, muscle function, and functional tasks. An analysis of covariates was used for analysis between patients groups and controls.

RESULTS

Patients with hip-related pain showed reduced hip ROM in internal rotation compared to patients with non-hip-related groin pain and controls (p ≤ 0.026, d -0.65; -0.97). No differences in muscle function or performance in functional tasks were observed between patients with hip-related pain and those with non-hip-related groin pain (p ≥ 0.136, d 0.00; 0.68). Both patient groups had worse muscle function and worse performance in functional tasks compared to controls (p ≤ 0.048, d -0.67; -1.83).

CONCLUSIONS

Both patients with and without hip-related pain had worse muscle function and worse performance in functional tasks compared to matched controls but no differences were observed between the patient groups. Only patients with hip-related pain had reduced ROM in internal rotation.