Purpose: The prevalence of joint hypermobility (JH) in patients with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) and its association with outcomes is yet widely unknown. This study aimed to validate a self-reported version of the Beighton score for FAI patients, and to determine possible associations between JH and clinical and radiographic parameters.
Methods: The study included 55 consecutive patients (18 females, mean age 29 years) with a diagnosis of FAI. Patients completed a self-reported Beighton score before clinical assessment, and a clinician blinded to the self-reported form filled the examiner-based version. Reliability of the self-reported version was assessed using kappa statistics. The prevalence of JH and associations with clinical and radiographic parameters were determined.
Results: The patients scored a mean of 2.6 points on the self-reported Beighton score. Agreement between self-assessment and examination was good to excellent for all single items and for the total score. Considering a Beighton score of ≥4 as cutoff for JH, the prevalence in the present cohort was 32.7% (50% of females and 24.3% of males). Significant associations were found between Beighton scores and hip joint motion. While no direct correlations were found between Beighton scores and the radiographic parameters; the group of patients with JH differed considerably from that without JH regarding gender distribution and FAI type.
Conclusions: The patient-oriented Beighton score proved to be feasible and reliable in FAI patients. The prevalence of JH in these patients seems to be high and future investigations about the association of JH with FAI and treatment outcomes are therefore warranted.