The use of inertial measurement units for analyzing change of direction movement in sports: A scoping review

Am Alanen,Lc Benson,Am Räisänen,K Pasanen

doi:10.1177/17479541211003064

Abstract

Change of direction movement is common in sports and the ability to perform this complex movement efficiently is related to athlete's performance. Wearable devices have been used to evaluate aspects of change of direction movement, but so far there are no clear recommendations on specific metrics to be used. The aims of this scoping review were to evaluate the reliability and validity of inertial measurement unit sensors to provide information on change of direction movement and to summarize the available evidence on inertial measurement units in analyzing change of direction movement in sports. A systematic search was employed in MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCO host), SPORTDiscus (EBSCO host), EMBASE and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Web of Science to identify eligible studies. A complementary grey literature search was employed to locate non-peer reviewed studies. The risk of bias of the studies evaluating validity and/or reliability was evaluated using the AXIS tool. The initial search identified 15,165 studies. After duplicate removal and full-text screening 49 studies met the inclusion criteria, with 11 studies evaluating validity and/or reliability. There are promising results on the validity and reliability, but the number of studies is still small and the quality of the studies is limited. Most of the studies were conducted with pre-planned movements and participants were usually adult males. Varying sensor locations limits the ability to generalize these findings. Inertial measurement units (IMU) can be used to detect change of direction (COD) movements and COD heading angles with acceptable validity, but IMU measured or derived kinetic or kinematic variables present inconsistency and over-estimation. Studies can be improved with larger sample sizes and agreement on the metrics used and sensor placement. Future research should include more on-field studies.

Highlights

Change of direction (COD) movements are common in sports
Validity and reliability of Inertial measurement units (IMU). 11 studies[35,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56] evaluated the validity of IMU measurement when analyzing COD movements (Table 1). Eight of these studies focused on concurrent validity of IMUs compared to a standard clinical measure or a biomechanical gold standard[35,47,48,49,50,51,52,53] and three focused on the construct validity of IMUs.[54,55,56]
COD movement is a complex and specific skill and it is related to lower extremity injuries

Summary

Introduction

Change of direction (COD) movements are common in sports. The ability to perform efficient and controlled COD movement requires technical abilities, adequate lower extremity muscle strength and speed and is relevant for both performance and injury prevention.[1,2,3]Reviewers: Jocelyn Hafer (University of Delaware, USA) Kelly Sheerin (Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand)Agility has been identified as an important performance variable for differentiating elite and sub-elite players,[4,5] and one definition of agility is the ability to change the direction of movement quickly and precisely.[6,7,8] Better understanding of the kinematic or kinetic indicators for COD performance rather than evaluating only time or speed would provide more comprehensive understanding of COD movement and how it can be improved.[9]. Was the sample frame taken from an appropriate population base so that it closely represented the target/reference population under investigation? 7. Were the risk factor and outcome variables measured appropriate to the aims of the study?

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion