Background: The cause of non-specific lumbopelvic pain is unknown. Pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain seems to be a subgroup that deserves a specific treatment. One of the options is the use of a pelvic belt.
Aim: To objectify the influence of a pelvic belt in patients with pelvic girdle pain.
Design: Case-control study.
Setting: Outpatient clinic.
Population: A total of 49 women with long-lasting posterior pelvic girdle pain and 37 parous women of the same age group without pelvic girdle pain.
Methods: Hip adduction force was measured by asking the participant to squeeze a hand-held dynamometer between the knees. This was firstly performed without a pelvic belt and then with a pelvic belt. The increase of hip adduction force after applying the pelvic belt was expressed in percentages.
Results: After tightening a pelvic belt hip adduction force increased 25.9±33.9% in patients with pelvic girdle pain (P<0.0001) and 1.0±8.6% in participants without (P=0.67). The difference between groups was significant (P<0.00001).
Conclusions: A pelvic belt has a positive influence on hip adduction force in pregnancy-related posterior pelvic girdle pain.
Clinical rehabilitation impact: The results show an objective positive effect of the pelvic belt in women with long-lasting pregnancy-related posterior pelvic girdle pain in a test-situation. The results support the idea that the use of a belt could be part of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation of those patients.