Abstract
This study aimed to investigate sex difference in the functional movement in the adolescent period. Seven hundred and thirty adolescents (365 boys) aged 16–17 years participated in the study. The participants performed standardized Functional Movement Screen™ (FMSTM) protocol and a t-test was used to examine sex differences in the total functional movement screen score, while the chi-square test was used to determine sex differences in the proportion of dysfunctional movement and movement asymmetries within the individual FMSTM tests. Girls demonstrated higher total FMSTM score compared to boys (12.7 ± 2.3 and 12.2 ± 2.4, respectively; p = 0.0054). Sex differences were present in several individual functional movement patterns where boys demonstrated higher prevalence of dysfunctional movement compared to girls in patterns that challenge mobility and flexibility of the body (inline lunge: 32% vs. 22%, df = 1, p = 0.0009; shoulder mobility: 47% vs. 26%, df = 1, p < 0.0001; and active straight leg raise: 31% vs. 9%, df = 1, p < 0.0001), while girls underperformed in tests that have higher demands for upper-body strength and abdominal stabilization (trunk stability push-up: 81% vs. 44%, df = 1, p < 0.0001; and rotary stability: 54% vs. 44%, df = 1, p = 0.0075). Findings of this study suggest that sex dimorphisms exist in functional movement patterns in the period of mid-adolescence. The results of this research need to be considered while using FMSTM as a screening tool, as well as the reference standard for exercise intervention among the secondary school-aged population.
Highlights
Physical inactivity represents a global health problem and is related to higher risk for morbidity and mortality [1]
The main finding of this study is that adolescent boys showed a higher proportion of dysfunctional movement (DFM) and movement asymmetries in the larger number of Functional Movement ScreenTM (FMSTM) tests compared to adolescent girls
The total functional movement screen score was higher in girls compared to boys
Summary
Physical inactivity represents a global health problem and is related to higher risk for morbidity and mortality [1]. The influence of physical activity as a measure of movement quantity has been examined extensively, very few studies have examined the movement quality through the sensitive period of adolescence. These studies pointed out the importance of proper development of the optimal functional movement patterns through adolescence [5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. Since functional movement is considered the clinical measure of movement quality [17,18] and potentially the essential component
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