Affiliations: [a] From the Department of Physical Therapy, Federal
University of São Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Fábio Viadanna Serrão,
Departamento de Fisioterapia, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Rodovia
Washington Luis, km 235, CEP: 13565-905, São Carlos, SP, Brasil. Tel.: +55
16 3351 8754; Fax: +55 16 3361 2081; E-mail: fserrao@ufscar.br
Abstract: Muscle imbalances appear to contribute to lower limb injuries and
the incidence rate of some knee injuries has been reported to be greater in
females than in males. The purposes of this study were to compare the
differences between genders in eccentric hip and knee peak torques normalized
according to body mass as well as in eccentric hip adduction to abduction
(HAD/HAB), hip medial to lateral rotation (HMR/HLR) and knee flexion to
extension (KF/KE) peak torques ratios. Seventeen males and twenty-two females
participated in this study. Eccentric hip and knee peak torque for each
movement were measured using an isokinetic dynamometer (Biodex Multi-Joint
System 2). The Student t test for independent samples and the Mann-Whitney U
test were used for all comparisons between genders (α = 0.05). The results
showed that females had significantly lower eccentric hip
adduction, abduction, medial rotation and lateral rotation as well as lower
knee flexion and extension peak torques. Females also showed greater eccentric
HAD/HAB and HMR/HLR as well as lower KF/KE peak torques ratios when compared to
males. The differences verified between genders help to explain the greater
rate of knee disorders observed in females.
