Relationship between single-leg stance test with light touch and hip muscle strength in healthy young adults.
Shinichiro Oka, Junya Yamaguchi, Ryota Okoba and 1 others
PMID 34393366WHAT IT FOUND
Longer single-leg stance time with light fingertip touch was related to hip rotator muscle strength in healthy young adults.
In men, external rotator strength was related. In women, internal rotator strength was related.
Key findings
01In men, longer light-touch single-leg stance time was related to hip external rotator strength (r=0.626, p=0.013) and to the internal-to-external rotator strength ratio (r=0.725, p=0.005).
02In women, longer light-touch single-leg stance time was related to hip internal rotator strength (r=0.518, p=0.031).
03The light-touch single-leg stance test was studied only in 31 healthy young adults, and its reliability and reproducibility were not examined.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The participants were healthy young adults with no musculoskeletal, neurological, or cardiopulmonary problems, so the findings do not apply to patients with hip pain, osteoarthritis, or other conditions that affect balance. The sample was small (31 participants) and split into 15 men and 16 women, so the sex-specific correlations may be unstable. The study measured stance time and muscle strength at one time point, so it did not show that strength causes longer stance time or that the test predicts clinical outcomes. The authors state that the reliability and reproducibility of the light-touch single-leg stance test were not examined. The test used a 20 cm platform and light touch below 1 N, so the setup details may affect the result.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use this test to decide whether a patient has hip instability. It was only correlated with hip muscle strength in healthy young adults, and the authors did not test its reliability or clinical usefulness.