Abstract
Objectives
Decreased hip adductor strength is a known risk factor for groin injury in footballers,
with clinicians testing adductor strength in various positions and using different
protocols. Understanding how reliable and how much torque different adductor squeeze
tests produce will facilitate choosing the most appropriate method for future testing.
In this study, the reliability and torque production of three common adductor squeeze
tests were investigated.
Design
Test–retest reliability and cross-sectional comparison.
Methods
Twenty elite level footballers (16–33 years) without previous or current groin pain
were recruited. Relative and absolute test–retest reliability, and torque production
of three adductor squeeze tests (long-lever in abduction, short-lever in adduction
and short-lever in abduction/external rotation) were investigated. Each participant
performed a series of isometric strength tests measured by hand-held dynamometry in
each position, on two test days separated by two weeks.
Results
No systematic variation was seen for any of the tests when using the mean of three
measures (ICC = 0.84–0.97, MDC% = 6.6–19.5). The smallest variation was observed when taking the mean of three repetitions
in the long-lever position (ICC = 0.97, MDC% = 6.6). The long-lever test also yielded the highest mean torque values, which were
69% and 11% higher than the short-lever in adduction test and short-lever in abduction/external
rotation test respectively (p < 0.001).
Conclusions
All three tests described in this study are reliable methods of measuring adductor
squeeze strength. However, the test performed in the long-lever position seems the
most promising as it displays high test–retest precision and the highest adductor
torque production.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 12, 2015
Accepted:
December 6,
2015
Received in revised form:
November 3,
2015
Received:
June 17,
2015
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
