The Examination of the Musculoskeletal System Based Only on the Evaluation of Pelvic-Hip Complex Muscle and Trunk Flexibility May Lead to Failure to Screen Children for Generalized Joint Hypermobility

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate whether the clinical assessment of the pelvic-hip complex muscle and trunk flexibility is sufficient for diagnosing generalized joint hypermobility (GJH). DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: Center of Body Posture in Olsztyn, North East Poland. PARTICIPANTS: The study included 136 females and 113 males aged 10–13 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: In order to assess muscle flexibility, the straight leg raise (SLR) test (for hamstring) and modified Thomas test for one- (O-JHF) and two-joint (T-JHF) hip flexors were performed. To evaluate trunk flexibility the fingertip-to-floor (FTF) and lateral trunk flexion (LTF) tests were used. The GJH occurrence was assessed with the use of nine-point Beighton scale (threshold value ≥5 points for females, ≥4 for males). The analysis was carried out separately for females and males. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between females with versus without GJH, and males with versus without GJH regarding SLR (p = 0.86, p = 0.19 for females and males, respectively), O-JHF (p = 0.89, p = 0.35 for females and males, respectively), T-JHF (p = 0.77, p = 0.4 for females and males, respectively), FTF (p = 0.19, p = 0.84 for females and males, respectively) and LTF (p = 0.58, p = 0.35 for females and males, respectively) tests results. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical examination of the pelvic-hip complex muscles and trunk flexibility by use of SLR, O-JHF, T-JHF, FTF and LTF revealed to be insufficient in diagnosing GJH in children aged 10–13 years. Thus, the Beighton scale should be considered a standard element of physiotherapeutic examination of the musculoskeletal system in children and youth.