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. 2002 Dec;37(4):487-493.

Proprioception and Muscle Strength in Subjects With a History of Ankle Sprains and Chronic Instability

Tine Willems  1 , Erik Witvrouw, Jan Verstuyft, Peter Vaes, Dirk De Clercq
Affiliations

Proprioception and Muscle Strength in Subjects With a History of Ankle Sprains and Chronic Instability

Tine Willems et al. J Athl Train. 2002 Dec.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To examine if patients with chronic ankle instability or a history of ankle sprains without chronic instability have worse proprioception or less invertor and evertor muscle strength. DESIGN AND SETTING: We assessed proprioception and muscle strength on the Biodex isokinetic dynamometer in the laboratory of the Department of Sports Medicine, University Hospital Ghent. SUBJECTS: Subjects included 87 physical education students (44 men, 43 women, age = 18.33 +/- 1.25 years, mass = 66.09 +/- 8.11 kg, height = 174.11 +/- 8.57 cm) at the University of Ghent in Belgium. Their ankles were divided into 4 groups: a symptom-free control group, subjects with chronic ankle instability, subjects who had sustained an ankle sprain in the last 2 years without instability, and subjects who sustained an ankle sprain 3 to 5 years earlier without instability. MEASUREMENTS: Active and passive joint-position sense was assessed at the ankle, and isokinetic peak torque was determined for concentric and eccentric eversion and inversion movements at the ankle. RESULTS: Statistical analysis indicated significantly less accurate active position sense for the instability group compared with the control group at a position close to maximal inversion. The instability group also showed a significantly lower relative eversion muscle strength (% body weight). No significant differences were observed between the control group and the groups with past sprains without instability. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that the possible cause of chronic ankle instability is a combination of diminished proprioception and evertor muscle weakness. Therefore, we emphasize proprioception and strength training in the rehabilitation program for ankle instability.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Positioning of the subject for testing active and passive joint-position sense on the Biodex 2 isokinetic dynamometer.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Positioning of the subject for testing isokinetic ankle inversion/eversion on the Biodex 3 isokinetic dynamometer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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