Abstract
BackgroundThe hip abductor muscles, primarily the gluteus medius, play an important role in stabilizing the pelvis during gait. Gluteus medius weakness is associated with biomechanical changes and musculoskeletal disorders. Individuals with obesity can have great difficulty maintaining abductor muscular function due to being overweight and possibly experiencing a decrease in muscle mass. However, it is still unclear whether the musculature of person with obesity can compensate for these changes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare gluteus medius strength between individuals with obesity and normal-weight individuals using a digital hand-held dynamometer.MethodsTwenty-five participants with obesity (BMI > 35 kg/m2) were matched for sex, age, and height with normal-weight individuals. Gluteus medius strength was measured by a single examiner using a belt-stabilized hand-held digital dynamometer placed on the knee of the individuals positioned in lateral decubitus. Three measurements were recorded with rest intervals, and only the highest value measured for each limb was used for analysis. The differences between pairs were calculated, and the normality of the data was assessed using the Shapiro-Wilk test (p < 0.05). The matrices of the variables were standardized and analysed using principal component analysis (PCA).ResultsFor the strength variables (Newtons) on both sides, no significant differences were detected between the groups (p > 0.05). However, significant differences were detected in these variables between the groups (p < 0.05) when the measurements were normalized to body weight (Newtons/kilograms). PCA indicated that both the absolute and normalized values of strength are lower in participants with obesity than in normal-weight.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that people with obesity could have the same or less strength (PCA) to move more mass, which may imply a relative weakness that induces functional limitations.
Highlights
The hip abductor muscles, primarily the gluteus medius, play an important role in stabilizing the pelvis during gait
Hip abductor muscles play an important role in stabilizing the pelvis during gait, which allows the body to effectively maintain balance and lower limb mobility [1]
Individuals with obesity who were beginning ambulatory follow-ups at the Obesity and Bariatric Surgery Service in the Western Paraná University Hospital (Cascavel, Paraná, Brazil) were included in the study. These individuals were of both sexes, were aged 20 to 60 years old, had grade II and III obesity, and had a body mass index (BMI) higher than 35 kg/m2 [27, 28]
Summary
The hip abductor muscles, primarily the gluteus medius, play an important role in stabilizing the pelvis during gait. The aim of this study was to compare gluteus medius strength between individuals with obesity and normal-weight individuals using a digital hand-held dynamometer. Hip abductor muscles play an important role in stabilizing the pelvis during gait, which allows the body to effectively maintain balance and lower limb mobility [1]. This group of muscles includes the gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, and tensor fasciae latae, but the gluteus medius is the main hip abductor muscle [2, 3]. If weight overload or muscle weakness occurs, an adaptation of the upper body will be triggered in an attempt to bring the centre of gravity closer to the centre of hip rotation
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