Can a single-legged squat provide insight into movement control and loading during dynamic sporting actions in athletic groin pain patients?

Abstract

Context: Chronic athletic groin pain (AGP) is common in field sports and has been associated with abnormal movement control and loading of the hip and pelvis during play. A single-legged squat (SLS) is commonly used by clinicians to assess movement control but whether it can provide insight into control during more dynamic sporting movements in AGP patients is unclear. Objective: To determine the relationships between biomechanical measures in a SLS and these same measures in a single-legged drop landing, single-legged hurdle hop and a cutting manoeuvre in AGP patients. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Biomechanics laboratory. Patients: Forty recreational field sports players diagnosed with AGP. Intervention: A biomechanical analysis of each individual’s SLS, drop-landing, hurdle hop and cut was undertaken. Main Outcome Measures: Hip, knee and pelvis angular displacement, and hip and knee peak moments. Pearson product moment correlations were used to examine relationships between SLS measures and equivalent measures in the other movements. Results: There were no significant correlations between any hip or pelvis measure in the SLS with these same measures in the drop landing, hurdle hop or cut (r range = 0.03 - 0.43, P > 0.05). Knee frontal and transverse plane angular displacement were related in the SLS and drop landing only, while knee moments were related in the SLS, drop-landing and hurdle hop (r range = 0.50 - 0.67, P < 0.05). Conclusion: For AGP patients, a SLS did not provide a meaningful insight into hip and pelvis control or loading during sporting movements that are associated with injury development. The usefulness of a SLS test in the assessment of movement control and loading in AGP patients is thus limited. The SLS provided a moderate insight into knee control while landing and therefore may be of use in the examination of knee injury risk