Segmental coordination and variability of change in direction in long-standing groin pain.

Background: Long-standing groin pain (LSGP) is a chronic painful condition resulting in both impaired performance and time loss from participation in multidirectional field sport.
Research Question: What are the differences in intersegmental coordination strategy and variability of trunk-pelvic and thigh coupling during change of direction in subjects with athletic LSGP and asymptomatic control subjects?
Methods: A motion analysis system was used to collect 3-D kinematic data of the continuous relative phase and the variability of the right and left leg hip. Thoracic-thigh segment data were also collected during multiple ipsilateral turns at a self-selected pace from 16 males with LSGP and 16 asymptomatic controls. It is worth mentioning that, for a more detailed analysis, we divided each cycle diagram into four phases. Independent T-tests were used to compare the two groups.
Results: Subjects with LSGP demonstrate except in phase 2 of the left foot, more out-of-phase movement with both increased variabilities in right/ left thigh - pelvic coupling, right/ left thigh-thoracic, and pelvic- thoracic in every 4 phases and in the decoupling of segmental coordination.
Significance: Decrease in coordination with higher variability is apparent in subjects with LSGP and this aberrant coordination may lead to unexpected compensatory strategies and control impairments.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest We confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication and there has been no financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome. The researchers independently collected, analyzed, and interpreted the results and have no financial interests in the results of this study. Furthermore, dissemination of the results of this study does not constitute endorsement by the researchers or their institutional affiliations.
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