Gait Alterations in Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome Differ by Sex.
Cara L Lewis, Anne Khuu, Kari L Loverro
PMID 29787694WHAT IT FOUND
Males with FAI syndrome showed hip and pelvic walking differences compared with males without hip pain.
Females with FAI syndrome showed differences mainly between their more and less painful limbs.
Key findings
01Males with FAI syndrome walked with less peak hip extension and more anterior pelvic tilt than males without hip pain at both preferred and prescribed speeds.
02Females with FAI syndrome showed differences between their more painful and less painful limbs at both speeds: the more painful limb had less peak hip extension, more peak hip adduction, and less peak hip abduction than the less painful limb.
03Females with FAI syndrome did not differ as a group from females without hip pain on any measured hip, pelvic, or thigh variable.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The FAI syndrome group had 11 males and 10 females, so the study may have missed smaller differences and may also have found differences that are not stable. The comparison group was not imaged, so some people without hip pain could still have hip morphology associated with FAI syndrome. The type of hip morphology was reported by clinics or participants, not measured in the study. Because the study compared people at a single time point, it cannot show whether the gait changes caused FAI syndrome, resulted from it, or were compensation for pain. The authors did not test whether changing walking patterns changed symptoms.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that these gait differences cause FAI syndrome or that changing gait will reduce pain. The study was cross-sectional, and the authors did not test whether modifying walking patterns changed symptoms.