Defining hip pain for population studies
Open Access
- 1 January 2005
- journal article
- research article
- Published by BMJ in Annals Of The Rheumatic Diseases
- Vol. 64 (1), 95-98
- https://doi.org/10.1136/ard.2003.018788
Abstract
Background: Identifying pain as coming from the hip joint is more complex than for other large joint sites. There is no accepted best approach to defining hip pain for use in clinical and epidemiological studies. Objective: To compare the use of verbal and pictorial descriptions in ascertaining hip pain. Methods: A cross sectional population based study on 2935 subjects compared groups reporting hip pain either using a pain diagram, or answering a question specifically asking about hip pain. The groups were compared with a group reporting no pain for various clinical indices of hip disease, including limitation of range of movement and evidence of radiographic change. Results: Subjects who satisfied both criteria for hip pain were substantially more likely to have used analgesics, consulted a physician, or had walking difficulty. Differences in range of movement were less clear cut but radiographic damage was more evident in those with both criteria. Conclusions: Subjects whose pain satisfies both a pictorial and a verbal definition (where the patient uses the word “hip”) have the strongest relation to indicators of hip disease. This approach is recommended when a specific definition is required for ascertaining individuals for study.Keywords
This publication has 7 references indexed in Scilit:
- Radiographic change is common in new presenters in primary care with hip painRheumatology, 2000
- Population requirement for primary hip-replacement surgery: a cross-sectional studyThe Lancet, 1999
- Prevalence of shoulder pain in the community: the influence of case definitionAnnals Of The Rheumatic Diseases, 1997
- The New Zealand priority criteria project. Part 1: OverviewBMJ, 1997
- Interobserver reliability in measuring flexion, internal rotation, and external rotation of the hip using a plurimeter.Annals Of The Rheumatic Diseases, 1996
- The MOS 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36). I. Conceptual framework and item selection.1992
- DEFINING OSTEOARTHRITIS OF THE HIP FOR EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIESAmerican Journal of Epidemiology, 1990