ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The hip joint is a multiaxial articulation and the most mobile joint of the lower extremity. It can be subject to overloading by the repetition of a motor pattern produced by imbalanced muscle groups. OBJECTIVES: To determine mean torque values of the external forces acting on the hip joint in various age groups; to compare the relations between the torque values of antagonistic hip muscles; to correlate changes in mean torque values of the hip muscles with age. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved a group of 120 women aged 19-85 years divided into 6 age groups of 20 subjects each. The presence of knee or hip pathology was an exclusion criterion. The tests were carried out in the Zamosc Rehabilitation Department of CMPA in an SPB2-FM unit. RESULTS: The highest mean torque values for all muscle groups were seen in women aged 19-25 years. The values gradually decreased with age. CONCLUSIONS: 1. The SPB2-FM unit is an objective tool for evaluating torques of the hip muscles and makes it possible to monitor changes occurring in the process of rehabilitation, as well as to diagnose risks resulting from a decrease in hip muscle strength. 2. The present study of healthy subjects provides baseline data for further comparisons with patients suffering from hip pathology and preliminary input for determining reference values of pelvic girdle muscle strength.
