Biomechanical differences between young adults with and without a history of youth sport-related ankle injury
Date
2022-10
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Abstract
Ankle sprain injuries are common in youth sport and often have residual symptoms that linger years after the initial injury. These symptoms could include impaired balance and altered lower extremity joint kinematics and kinetics. Ankle sprain injury is strongly associated with the development of post-traumatic ankle osteoarthritis, with potential pathomechanisms linked to altered ankle joint loading. Thus, the primary objective of this research was to quantify differences in balance and lower extremity joint kinematics and kinetics between individuals who have sustained an ankle injury during youth sport 3 to 15 years prior to study participation compared to those with no history of lower extremity injury. The secondary objective of this study was to assess the impact of limb asymmetry and age on balance and lower extremity joint kinematics in individuals with and without ankle injury history during their youth. Balance did not differ between females with and without ankle sprain history. During walking, females with ankle sprain history demonstrated larger peak knee external rotation angle, larger peak knee extension angle, and larger peak hip flexion than uninjured controls. During a single-leg squat task, previously injured females displayed smaller peak ankle plantarflexion angle, peak knee extension angle, and peak hip external rotation angle than uninjured controls. Differences in ground reaction forces were observed during the walking and single-leg squat task between injured and uninjured females. During walking, older females displayed smaller peak ankle inversion, plantarflexion, hip abduction, and hip extension angles than younger females. During the SLS task, older females demonstrated a larger peak eversion angle and peak plantarflexion angle, and smaller peak knee external rotation and extension angles. . Small numbers of male participants limited analytic possibilities, however descriptively they may have a longer centre of pressure (COP) pathlength during the single-leg balance task compared to females. Male participants also seem to demonstrate different peaks in lower extremity joint kinematics compared to female participants. These results indicate long-term biomechanical effects of ankle sprain injuries, or pre-existing differences in biomechanics that may predispose certain individuals to ankle sprain injuries.
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Keywords
biomechanics, kinesiology, biomedical engineering
Citation
Russell, M. (2022). Biomechanical differences between young adults with and without a history of youth sport-related ankle injury (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.