Comparison of foot measures on dynamic and static balance in children engaged in different sports disciplines

Abstract

It is known that sports contribute to the development of children's anthropometric, biomechanical, postural and proprioceptive characteristics. By participating in a sport discipline in childhood, it is possible to gain sports-specific features. Comparing sports that require different motoric features and neuromuscular competencies raises the question of how these different requirements might also affect biomechanical and balance skills. The aim of this study is to compare the foot posture, foot function and dynamic-static balance in children who engaged sports in different sport disciplines. The study included totally 66 child athletes with the mean age of 13.19±2.11 from the box, basketball and swimming disciplines. 54.55% of the participating athletes were female and 45.45% were male. Demographic and sport-specific characteristics of the participants were questioned with an 11-question case form. The Foot Posture Index (FPI) and the Foot Function Index (FFI) were administered. Static balance assessment was performed with the Flamingo Balance Test and dynamic balance assessment was performed with the Y Balance Test. The data obtained for each sport branch were compared between groups. There was no statistically significant difference in terms of demographic characteristics among groups. A statistically significant difference was found between boxing, basketball, and swimming branches in terms of FPI score, right and left static balance results, and foot posture class parameters (p