Instrumented measures of postural control in college dancers with and without chronic ankle instability

Abstract

ObjectivesTo determine whether collegiate dancers with chronic ankle instability (CAI) demonstrated impaired postural control during instrumented measures of single-leg static balance compared to dancers without CAI. DesignCross sectional design. SettingUniversity dance studios. ParticipantsWe included N = 39 dance majors from a large, public university. We stratified participants into CAI (n = 20, age = 20 ± 1.8, IdFAI = 17.3 ± 5.7, number of sprains = 1.9 ± 1.1) and Control groups (n = 19, age = 20 ± 1.2, IdFAI = 2.5 ± 3.0). Main outcome measuresParticipants performed 3 x 10-s single-leg, static balance trials on a pressure mat in two different conditions, foot-flat eyes closed and demi-pointe eyes open. We measured six different time-to-boundary (TTB) measurements during each balance trial and calculated the average of the 3 trials for each condition. Participants also completed the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM) sport and activities of daily living (ADL) questionnaires. ResultsThe CAI group reported greater IdFAI and lower FAAM-ADL and FAAM-Sport scores compared to the control group. We observed no significant differences in TTB measurements between the CAI and control groups during either balance conditions. ConclusionsInstrumented measures of static postural control were not impaired in college dancers with CAI compared dancers without CAI.