The natural history of greater trochanteric pain syndrome: an 11-year follow-up study

BACKGROUND: Greater trochanteric pain syndrome (GTPS) is a musculoskeletal condition which can cause disability and reduce quality of life. However, limited evidence is available on the long-term outcomes of people with GTPS. Our aims were to determine the long-term prevalence of GTPS; to calculate the proportion of people with GTPS who had developed hip osteoarthritis (OA); and to determine the level of function and quality of life, 11-years after initial GTPS diagnosis. METHODS: A prospective 11-year natural history study. Two groups [GTPS group (n = 24), asymptomatic control (ASC) group (n = 20)] were evaluated at baseline, 12-months and 11-years. At 11-years all participants completed the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Assessment of Quality-of-Life questionnaire. At 11-year follow-up 20/24 GTPS and 19/20 ASC participants were clinically assessed for GTPS and hip OA, completed the 10 metre-walk-test, timed up and go, and hip abduction and external rotation strength testing. RESULTS: At 11-year follow-up 45.0% of GTPS participants had GTPS compared to 5.3% of ASC participants (p = 0.008), OR [95% CI]: 10.19 [1.95, 104.3], and 35.0% of GTPS participants were clinically diagnosed with hip OA compared to none of the ASC participants (p = 0.002), OR [95% CI]: 21.6, [2.3, 2898.0]. GTPS participants reported more pain and disability than ASC participants via the ODI, mean difference [95% CI]: 6.1 [0.7, 11.6] but not the modified Harris Hip Score, mean difference [95% CI]: -3.3 [-10.3, 3.7]. Both groups had similar levels of quality of life and measures of function. CONCLUSIONS: GTPS is a chronic condition: people with GTPS at baseline had twice the odds of being clinically diagnosed with GTPS or hip OA than the control group at 11-years. Further, there appears to be a temporal relationship between GTPS and the development of hip OA. This finding highlights the need to identify effective treatments that address the underlying impairments associated with GTPS. Pain and function results varied depending on the assessment tools used. Between group differences in quality of life seen at baseline are not found at the 11-year follow-up. The small sample size means the results must be considered with caution. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II Natural history Study. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12891-021-04935-w.