Which cue describes hip abduction during passive ROM?

• A. Climbing stairs
• B. Snow Angel
• C. Rolling cookie dough
• D. Circles

Answer: (B)

Hip abduction is moving the leg away from the midline of the body, i.e., outward to the side. In passive ROM, the caretaker performs this movement for the resident. A cue that clearly matches this outward, lateral hip movement is a “Snow Angel” motion, where the leg is guided outward to the side to make that snow-angel shape. The other cues describe different actions: climbing stairs involves lifting and advancing the leg and knee with weight shifting; rolling cookie dough uses wrist and forearm rotation; making circles implies a circular or circumduction motion, which combines several directions and isn’t the pure outward abduction. So Snow Angel best signals hip abduction during passive ROM.