Coordination and Symmetry Patterns During the Drop Vertical Jump in Participants With Chronic Ankle Instability and Lateral Ankle Sprain Copers

BACKGROUND: The drop vertical jump (DVJ) task has previously been used to identify movement patterns associated with a number of injury types. However, no current research exists evaluating participants with chronic ankle instability (CAI) compared to lateral ankle sprain (LAS) copers during this task.OBJECTIVE: This study aims to identify the coping movement and motor control patterns of LAS copers in comparison to individuals with CAI during a DVJ task.DESIGN: Case-control study METHODS: Seventy individuals were recruited at convenience within 2-weeks of sustaining a first-time acute LAS injury. One year following recruitment these individuals were stratified into two groups: twenty-eight with CAI and forty-two LAS copers. They attended the testing laboratory to complete a DVJ task. 3D kinematic and sagittal plane kinetic profiles were plotted for the lower extremity joints of both limbs for the drop jump (phase 1) and drop landing (phase 2) phases of the DVJ. The rate of impact modulation relative to bodyweight (BW) during both phases of the DVJ was also determined.RESULTS: Compared with LAS copers, CAI participants displayed significant increases in hip flexion on their 'involved' limb during phase 1 of the DVJ (23° vs 18°), and bilaterally during phase 2 (15° vs 10°). These movement patterns coincided with altered moment-of-force patterns at the hip on the 'uninvolved' limb.LIMITATIONS: It is unknown whether these movement and motor control patterns preceded or occurred as a result of the initial LAS.CONCLUSIONS: Participants with CAI display hip-centred changes in movement and motor control patterns during a DVJ task compared to LAS copers. These findings may give an indication of the coping mechanism underlying outcome following initial LAS.