Characteristics of selected parameters of body posture in patients with hip osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common disorder of the musculoskeletal system. A unilateral change in the hip joint changes the position of the pelvis and spine, and therefore the patient's body posture. Due to the uneven loading of the lower limbs asymmetry occurs in the trunk. Detailed dependencies of that have not been thorougly described in the available literature. The aim of the study was to characterize the posture parameters in patients with unilateral osteoarthritis of the hip.

The study population consisted of 40 patients with unilateral hip osteoarthritis. There were 21 women and 19 men in the group, aged 41-80 years. The mean patient age was 65.39+/-8.69, the mean body mass was 82.98 ± 11.79 kg, the mean body height was 167.64 ± 8.59, and the mean Body Mass Index (BMI) was 29.6 ± 4.36.

Statistically significant differences were found on a number of parameters: lumbar inclination, thoraco-lumbar inclination and torso inclination were lower in patients with hip arthrosis, comparing to control group. Angle of thoracic kyphosis, depth of thoracic kyphosis, angle of lumbar lordosis, depth of lumbar lordosis were smaller in patients with hip arthrosis. Pelvic asymmetry in coronal plane was bigger in patients with hip arthrosis.

Body posture in patients with unilateral osteoarthritis characterizes a decrease of lumbar lordosis and thoracic kyphosis while the whole body tilt forward. The asymmetry of the pelvis and trunk settings should be taken be taken into account during physical therapy of patients with coxarthrosis also during the post-operative postural re-education process.