Anatomic variations in hip joint are one of the risk factors for the occurrence of osteoarthritis of that part of locomotor system. Due to different age structure and a special way of conducting physical activity in the army, it is justified to presume the presence of even other risk factors which relate to the aging process, carrying of oversize weight and performing higher amplitudes of movement under load. The objective of the study related to determining the existence of eventual anatomic variations in the hip joint in soldiers of different age. This cross-sectional study covers 240 soldiers of Montenegro Army, divided into 8 age groups. Gathered data for morphological measures hip width and hip circumference were processed using the basic statistics, multivariate and univariate of variance and Tukey’s Honestly Significant Difference test-HSD. The differences were considered statistically significant for p≤0.05. It was determined that for both morphological measures there are differences between soldiers of certain age. This is confirmed also by drastic deviations between certain age groups obtained for the defined level of statistical significance. The most pronounced is the detection of the annual increase of hip width of soldiers which is higher for 0.38 mm compared to general population. Based on the obtained results the existence of anatomic variations in soldiers’ hip joints is stated. The confirmed anatomic changes in conjunction with other risk factors may lead to hip osteoarthritis, i.e to soldiers’ health condition impairment. It is necessary to conduct longitudinal studies on the same examinees with precise diagnostics.
KEY WORDS: Anatomic Variations; Hip Joint; Differences; Soldiers; Age.
BANJEVIC, B. Anatomic variations of the hip joint in soldiers of different ages. Int. J. Morphol., 40(5):1181-1185, 2022.
