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Determining meaningful changes in pelvic-on-femoral position during the Trendelenburg test
James W Youdas1, Sara T Mraz, Barbara J Norstad
1Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA. youdas.james@mayo.edu
Context:
Hip abductor muscle weakness is related to many lower extremity injuries. A simple procedure, the Trendelenburg test, may be used to assess hip abductor performance in patient populations.
Objective:
To describe the minimal detectable change (MDC) in pelvic-on-femoral (P-O-F) position of the stance limb during the Trendelenburg test.
Setting:
Laboratory.
Participants:
45 healthy women (28 +/- 8 years) and 45 healthy men (33 +/- 11 years).
Main Outcome Measures:
P-O-F position in degrees in single-leg stance.
Results:
Baseline P-O-F position (hip adduction) was 83 degrees +/- 3 degrees with a range from 76 degrees to 94 degrees. The intratester reliability (ICC3,1) for measurement of P-O-F position using a universal goniometer was 0.58 with a standard error of measurement (SEM) of 2 degrees. The minimal detectable change (MDC) was calculated to be 4 degrees.
Conclusions:
If a person's P-O-F position changes less than 4 degrees between measurements, then the P-O-F position is within measurement error and it can be determined that there has been no change in the performance of the hip abductor muscles when examined by the Trendelenburg test.
