Description
The purpose of this study was to assess time to stabilization (TTS) of braced and unbraced-subjects during single-leg jump landing. Twenty-five healthy subjects(age = 20.4, ± 1.6 yrs; height = 169.9, ± 6.5 cm; weight = 67.8, ± 11.0 kg) performed three successful trials of a single-leg jump landing under both braced and unbraced conditions. The brace was an ASO Ankle Stabilizer (Medical Specialties, Inc., Charlotte, NC). Ground reaction forces (vertical, medial-lateral, and anterior-posterior) were collected during the single-leg jump landings onto a Bertec forceplate FP4060-NC (Bertec Corporation, Columbus, OH). A 2 X 2 (Condition X Direction) factorial ANOVA with repeated measures indicated no significant (F(.05)(l, 24) = 4.26, p= .207) interaction for condition (braced and unbraced) in either of the directions (medial-lateral TTS and anterior-posterior TTS). No significant main effect was found for brace condition (F(.05)(1,24) = 4.26, p = .827), but a significant main effect was found for direction (F(.05)(1,24) = 4.26, p = .000) with medial-lateral TTS faster than the anterior-posterior TTS. A paired t-Test showed no significant (t(.05)(24) = 2.064, p = .829) mean difference in vertical TTS between braced and unbraced conditions. An Intraclass Correlation was used to determine trial reliability. Reliability ranged from ICC = .87 to.96. The findings of this study suggested the application of ankle brace on healthy subjects does not effect TTS during a single-leg jump landing. Further research is necessary in the area of injured subjects and ankle brace use during lateral jump tasks
Identifier
psu-etd-093
