The relevance of figure-of-eight walk test to hip muscle strength in healthy young males.
Shinichiro Oka, Tomoaki Tokunaga, Rei Yamamoto
PMID 38075514WHAT IT FOUND
Figure-of-eight walk time and step rate were linked to hip external rotator strength in healthy young men.
The study did not show that strengthening improves turning.
Key findings
01Hip external rotator strength was significantly associated with figure-of-eight walk time (p=0.038) and step rate (p=0.019).
02Figure-of-eight walk time was also correlated with hip adductor (r=-0.312, p=0.050), abductor (r=-0.300, p=0.060), and internal rotation (r=-0.285, p=0.075) strength.
03The hip strength measure was isometric, so it does not reveal muscle function as observed in the figure-of-eight walk test.
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How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
20 healthy young men were studied, so the result may not apply to older adults or people with conditions that affect walking or turning. The study was cross-sectional, so it can show association but not that hip external rotator strength causes faster turning. Hip strength was measured isometrically, so it may not reflect muscle function during the figure-of-eight walk test. Several hip muscles and walk-test measures were analysed, and only hip external rotator strength was significant in regression.
Declared interests
JSPS KAKENHI Grant 22K17636 supported the research. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or manuscript preparation.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that strengthening hip external rotators will improve figure-of-eight walking or turning safety. The study measured association in healthy young men and did not test an intervention.