Table 1.
Demography by the three definitions of generalized joint hypermobility (GJH)
| GJH4 | GJH5 | GJH6 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | < GJH4 | ≥ GJH4 | p-value | < GJH5 | ≥ GJH5 | p-value | < GJH6 | ≥ GJH6 | p-value |
| (n = 171) | (n = 130) | (n = 217) | (n = 84) | (n = 237) | (n = 64) | ||||
| Age, median (range) | 14 (13–15) | 14 (13–15) | 0.13 | 14 (13–15) | 14 (13–15) | 0.24 | 14 (13–15) | 14 (13–15) | 0.61 |
| 1BMI, mean (sd) | 20.02 (2.62) | 20.57 (2.77) | 0.08 | 19.95 (2.52) | 21.03 (2.98) | 0.004* | 20.03 (2.62) | 21.07 (2.85) | 0.006* |
| Gender, no. of girls, n (%) | 75 (43.9) | 73 (56.2) | 0.04 a, * | 100 (46.1) | 48 (57.1) | 0.09a | 109 (46.0) | 39 (60.9) | 0.03 a, * |
| Musculoskeletal health, n (%) | |||||||||
| Arthralgia in 1–3 joints (> 3 months), (n = 301) | 9 (5.3) | 10 (7.7) | 0.39a | 12 (5.5) | 7 (8.3) | 0.37a | 14 (5.9) | 5 (7.8) | 0.58a |
| Arthralgia in >4 joints (> 3 months), (n = 300) | 4 (2.3) | 8 (6.2) | 0.14b | 6 (2.8) | 6 (7.1) | 0.08a | 7 (3.0) | 5 (7.8) | 0.08a |
| 2Dislocation/subluxation, (n = 293) | 10 (5.8) | 9 (6.9) | 0.70a | 11 (5.1) | 8 (9.5) | 0.15a | 13 (5.5) | 6 (9.4) | 0.26a |
| 3Soft tissue rheumatism, (n = 293) | 5 (2.9) | 5 (3.8) | 0.66a | 6 (2.8) | 4 (4.8) | 0.47b | 8 (3.4) | 2 (3.1) | 1.00b |
1BMI = Body Mass Index (calculated as = bodyweight in kg/ height in m*height in m) 2Dislocation/subluxation is based on the question: ‘Have you experienced dislocation or subluxation in one joint’. 3Soft tissue rheumatism is based on the question: ‘Have you experienced epicondylitis, tenosynovitis or bursitis?’
Methods/Hypothesis testing: Age: Mann Whitney u-test; BMI (body mass index): independent t-test; Gender, musculoskeletal health: X 2 , aPearson’s chi-square; bFishers exact test. Significant difference between groups are marked with *and written with bold.