External rotation of the hip. A predictor of risk for stress fractures.

External rotation of the hip was found to have a statistically significant correlation with the incidence of stress fractures, in a prospective study among Israeli infantry recruits of possible anthropomorphic predictors of risk for stress fractures. Soldiers in whom hip external rotation was greater than 65 degrees were at a higher risk for tibial and total stress fractures than those with external rotations of less than 65 degrees. The mean hip external rotation in this study of 57 degrees +/- 9.3 degrees was higher than in statistics reported in the American literature. The existence of a larger subpopulation with hip external rotation greater than 65 degrees may partially explain why the reported incidence of stress fractures in the Israeli army is higher than that of the American army.