The full article can be found here
Tell us more about yourself and the author team.
Primary author Becky DeMargel has treated adults with orthopedic conditions for over 20 years. Currently, she is practicing in the Washington University School of Medicine clinical practice and is a lab instructor in the Washington University School of Medicine DPT program. Marcie Harris-Hayes, the lead investigator, has been investigating rehabilitation for hip conditions for over 10 years. She, along with the coauthors on the paper, are all members of the Washington University School of Medicine Young Adult Hip Group, a multidisciplinary group with the goal to better understand musculoskeletal hip conditions and develop optimal person-specific treatments.
What is the story behind your study?
There is limited evidence specific to rehabilitation for young-to-middle-aged adults with chronic hip-related groin pain. Even less is known about the associations among personal factors and the patient’s pain levels and functional limitations. We were interested in factors beyond mechanical factors that may be associated with a person’s activity limitations and pain. Understanding these associations may provide insight into specific treatment options for musculoskeletal pain patients.
In your own words, what did you find?
Increased depressive symptoms and movement-evoked pain at baseline are independently associated with the worse perception of baseline hip-related function in young to middle-aged adults with chronic hip-related groin pain seeking nonoperative care.
What was the main challenge you faced in your study?
As others have experienced, the pandemic caused by COVID-19 significantly impacted our ability to recruit patients for the study, provide treatment, and complete post-treatment testing.
If there is one take-home message from your study, what would that be?
The findings of this exploratory study warrant further investigation of the relationship between personal variables and perceived hip-related function. Confirmation of this relationship could strengthen expert recommendations and guide the development of future clinical practice guidelines for the nonoperative treatment of chronic hip-related groin pain.