An Assessment of the Hip Muscular Imbalance for Patients with Rheumatism

Abstract

Rheumatism is a muscular disorder that affects the muscles of the upper and lower limbs. This condition could potentially progress to impair the movement of patients. This study aims to investigate the hip muscular imbalance in patients with rheumatism conditions, specifically polymyalgia rheumatica. A clinical trial involving a total of 15 participants, made up of 10 patients and 5 control subjects, took place in KATH Hospital between August and September. Participants recruited for the study were of age 54 ± 7years, weight 65± 12kg and height 175 ± 8cm. Muscle signals were recorded from the rectus femoris and vastus lateralis on the right and left hips of participants. The parameters used in determining the hip muscular imbalances were the maximum voluntary contraction (MVC%), the mean difference and the hip muscle fatigue levels. The mean signals were compared using t-test and the metrics for muscle fatigue assessment were based on the root mean square (RMS), mean absolute value (MAV), and the mean frequency (MEF). The results indicated that there were significant imbalances in the muscles coactivity between the right and left hip muscles of patients. The patients MVC values were observed to be above 10% when compared with control subjects. Furthermore, the mean difference was seen to be higher with p > 0.002 among patients which indicated differences in the hip muscle contraction activities. The findings indicate significant hip muscular imbalances for patients with rheumatism compared with control subjects. Information about the imbalances among patients will be useful for clinicians in designing therapeutic muscle-strengthening exercises.