Hip Abduction Test

How to Perform

The patient is side lying with the bottom leg flexed for stability. A pillow is placed under the head for support. The top leg is in alignment with the trunk. The examiner palpates the TFL and posterior gluteus medius with his or her right hand and the lateral portion of the quadratus lumborum with the left fingers. The patient is asked to raise the leg toward the ceiling. The examiner palpates for activation of the gluteus medius.

We can add elongation with hip abduction and/or hip external rotation to facilitate the posterior gluteus medius and reassess gluteus medius activation/tone.

An observational active side-lying hip abduction test while having both legs extended to assess for frontal plane stability has shown promise in predicting who is most likely to develop low back pain from prolonged standing (Nelson-Wong, 2009). A subsequent study has found this test to be a reliable observational tool (Davis et al. 2011).