Gait asymmetries in unilateral symptomatic hip osteoarthritis and their association with radiographic severity and pain

Introduction: Little is known about the loading patterns in unilateral hip osteoarthritis (OA) and their relationship to radiographic severity and pain. We aimed to examine the loading patterns at the hips of those with unilateral symptomatic hip OA and identify associations between radiographic severity and pain with loading alterations. Methods: 61 subjects with symptomatic unilateral hip OA underwent gait analyses and evaluation for radiographic severity (Kellgren-Lawrence [KL]-grade) and pain (visual analogue scale) at bilateral hips. Results: Hip OA subjects had greater range of motion and higher hip flexion, adduction, internal and external rotation moments at the contralateral, asymptomatic hip compared to the ipsilateral hip (p < 0.05). Correlations were noted between increasing KL-grade and increasing asymmetry of contralateral to ipsilateral hip loading (p < 0.05). There were no relationships with pain and loading asymmetry. Discussion: Unilateral symptomatic hip OA subjects demonstrate asymmetry in loading between the hips, with relatively greater loads at the contralateral hip. These loading asymmetries were directly related to the radiographic severity of symptomatic hip OA and not with pain. Conclusion: Additional research is needed to determine the role of gait asymmetries in disease progression.