Functional Tests Do Not Differ Between Injured and Not Injured in Division I Female Athletes

Abstract

The Y-balance Test (YBT), single (SLH), triple (TH), and crossover (XH) hop test for distance and the tuck jump assessment (TJA) are functional movement tests that assess single leg limb control and dynamic movement performance, which has been suggested to influence injury rates. Identifying risk factors for non-contact injury may help with injury prevention. Purpose: To describe functional tests performance in Division I (DI) female college athletes and to compare performance between those who sustained a non-contact injury with those who did not. METHODS: 82 female athletes (age: 19.3 yrs ± 0.3, ht: 168.6 cm ± 1.9, wt: 66.3 kg ± 3.5) were screened and excluded if currently injured or not in appropriate testing attire. Participants completed YBT anterior reach (n=82), hop tests (n=60) and TJA (n=51) during pre-participation examination. Athletes competed in the sport season and non-contact injury data was collected from injury reports created by athletic training staff. Asymmetry with YBT anterior reach and hop tests was calculated as the difference in performance between the right and left leg. Hop tests were also normalized to leg length. The TJA assessed 10 standardized flaws with a total score as the sum of the 10 flaws. The difference between those injured and uninjured with all tests was calculated using independent t-tests. RESULTS: 17 student-athletes reported a non-contact injury. No associations were found between non-contact injury and functional tests (Table 1). Results for left leg hop tests were similar to results on the right. CONCLUSIONS: No statistically significant differences were found between the occurrence of DI female athlete’s non-contact injury and YBT scores, SLH, TH, XH, or TJA scores. In this cohort of DI female athletes, the functional tests had limited utility in identifying individuals at risk for non-contact injury.