Passive anterior tibial translation in women with and without joint hypermobility: an exploratory study

Generalized joint hypermobility (GJH) is a frequent entity, which is still not fully understood. Symptoms associated with GJH are musculoskeletal disorders, decreased balance, impaired proprioception and chronic pain. The purpose of this study was to compare the passive anterior tibial translation (TT) in terms of distance and corresponding force between normomobile (NM) and hypermobile (HM) as well as between NM, symptomatic (HM-s) and asymptomatic (HM-as) hypermobile women.

A total of 195 women, 67 NM and 128 HM, whereof 56 were further classified as HM-s and 47 as HM-as, participated in this study. Passive TT was measured using an adapted Rolimeter. A manual traction force was applied and the distance of the translation measured. For the analysis, maximal translation (TTmax) and the respective force as well as the distance at 40N (TTF40) and 80N (TTF80) traction force were determined. The NM and HM groups were compared using independent samples t-tests, whereas the NM, HM-s and HM-as groups were compared using one-way analyses of variance with Tukey post hoc tests (significance level P ≤ 0.05).

Comparisons revealed higher values for the variables TTmax, TTF40 and TTF80 in the HM compared to the NM group. In addition, TTmax and TTF80 were found to be higher in the HM-s compared to the NM group.

HM women showed significantly higher TT distances, which were even more accentuated in those having symptoms. The findings point toward less passive stability of the knee joint and thus maybe a need of higher muscle activation in order to stabilize the joint.