Biomechanical Analysis of Injury Factor According to the Change of Direction After Single-leg Landing

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Objective: The purpose of this study was to understand the injury mechanism and to provide quantitative data to use in prevention or posture correction training by conducting kinematic and kinetic analyses of risk factors of lower extremity joint injury depending on the change of direction at different angles after a landing motion. Method: This study included 11 men in their twenties (age: <TEX>$24.6{\pm}1.7years$</TEX>, height: <TEX>$176.6{\pm}4.4cm$</TEX>, weight: <TEX>$71.3{\pm}8.0kg$</TEX>) who were right-leg dominant. By using seven infrared cameras (Oqus 300, Qualisys, Sweden), one force platform (AMTI, USA), and an accelerometer (Noraxon, USA), single-leg drop landing was performed at a height of 30 cm. The joint range of motion (ROM) of the lower extremity, peak joint moment, peak joint power, peak vertical ground reaction force (GRF), and peak vertical acceleration were measured. For statistical analysis, one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted at a significance level of <TEX>${\alpha}$</TEX> <.05. Results: Ankle and knee joint ROM in the sagittal plane significantly differed, respectively (F = 3.145, p = .024; F = 14.183, p = .000), depending on the change of direction. However, no significant differences were observed in the ROM of ankle and knee joint in the transverse plane. Significant differences in peak joint moment were also observed but no statistically significant differences were found in negative joint power between the conditions. Peak vertical GRF was high in landing (LAD) and after landing, left <TEX>$45^{\circ}$</TEX> cutting (LLC), with a significant difference (F = 9.363, p = .000). The peak vertical acceleration was relatively high in LAD and LLC compared with other conditions, but the difference was not significant. Conclusion: We conclude that moving in the left direction may expose athletes to greater injury risk in terms of joint kinetics than moving in the right direction. However, further investigation of joint injury mechanisms in sports would be required to confirm these findings.