FUNCTIONAL TESTS, ISOKINETIC TORQUE OF INVERSION AND EVERSION AND ARTICULAR REPOSITIONING CAPACITY: A STUDY ABOUT THE EFFECT OF USING SEMI-RIGID ORTESIS ON DYNAMIC ANKLE STABILITY

• Grant number: 11/05769-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2011
• End date: August 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Physical Education
• Principal Investigator: Mauro Gonçalves
• Grantee: Fernanda Cristina Milanezi
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

One of the most common injury found in physically fit population is the ankle sprain and about 40% of these cases continue to report ankle joint instability even after the acute phase of injury, which is called functional instability of the ankle. This motor dysfunction is related with proprioceptive deficits, which causes a delay in time reaction. In addition, these individuals do not have an adequate eccentric muscle control and are unable to develop a speed of contraction. Basketball is a sport with high incidence of ankle injuries. Thus, the use of ankle bracing has been considered as a feature to prevent injuries in this joint. Several variables are affected after an ankle injury which can be assessed using functional tests, but the relationship between this type of test and isokinetic test are not well understood yet. For this reason, this study aims to identify variables, dynamometer and EMG, which may contribute to a functionally stable ankle, as well as compare these results with the scores obtained in functional tests. Thirty eight female athletes of team sports with jumping between theaged18 and 25, which will be divided into two groups: group with functional ankle instability and control groups. The volunteers will perform the following tests: torque isokinetic test and functional test of joint repositioning test. The functional tests will be performed with and without an ankle bracing on both lower limbs. After calculated the normality of the data will be selected the appropriate statistical analysis for comparison and correlation of variables, significance level of p <0.05.