Relationship between proprioception and chronic ankle instability

Abstract

Objective To evaluate how proprioception affect ankle stability through comparing angle position awareness and peroneus reaction time between chronic ankle lateral instability patients and healthy controls. Methods A total of 51 participants were recruited into an experimental group of 21 patients with chronic ankle lateral instability (17 males, aged 31.6±2.6) and a control group of 30 healthy counterparts (24 males, aged 34.2±2.3). All the participants were asked to reoccur passive ankle position under the angular velocity at 2 degree per second when they were resting with non-weight bearing in their recruited ankles. The muscle reaction time (MRT) of peroneus longus(PL) and peroneus brevis (PB) in all the recruited ankles was measured during sudden ankle inversion both with and without ankle protective brace wearing. Results The difference between angle recurrence and the target angle (ankle inversion 20° and 30°) was significantly higher (P 0.05). Conclusions In patients with chronic lateral ankle instability, the position awareness decreases and the reaction time of peroneus is prolonged. Ankle braces can provide mechanical protection to the injured joints, but cannot promote MRT significantly. Key words: Chronic ankle instability; Proprioception; Position awareness; Muscle reaction time