Prevalence of hamstring muscle tightness among undergraduate physiotherapy students from Dakshina Kannada, district: A cross sectional study

Abstract

Background: Inability to extend the knee completely when the hip is flexed, accompanied by discomfort or pain along the posterior thigh or knee is hamstring muscle tightness. The sit and reach test is commonly used to assess flexibility of the spine and length of the hamstring muscles.Aim: This study aims to find the prevalence of the hamstring muscle tightness among the undergraduate physiotherapy students from Dakshina Kannada District. It was tested to determine the hamstring muscle length by use of the sit and reach test in both males and females. Results: Out of 107 respondents, the study showed 40.17% with prevalence of hamstring muscle tightness, in which tightness was found to be high in males than females. Generally, females, adults and participants with high levels of hamstring extensibility tends to have greater mean values of criterion-related validity for estimating hamstring extensibility. When the use of angular tests is limited such as in a school setting or in large scale studies, scientists and practitioners could use the sit-and-reach tests as a useful alternative for hamstring extensibility estimation, but not for estimating lumbar extensibility.Conclusion: The present study shows medium prevalence of hamstring muscle tightness among physiotherapy students from Dakshina Kannada District.