This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Decreased core muscle endurance among risk factors for lower extremity overuse injuries
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
According to published findings, dynamic postural control and core muscle strength and endurance were found as risk factors for lower extremity overuse injuries. Examining core neuromuscular control and proprioception and functional movement as factors for these injuries might not be the best indicators for at-risk patients.
“I think an important take-home message toward clinicians, that was not mentioned in our conclusion, is that modifying these detected risk factors from our study with injury prevention in mind needs to be part of a more comprehensive, multifactorial injury prevention program that also focuses on other non-core stability-related aspects, such as balance training, warm-up/cooling down, flexibility training, functional strength training, etc.,” Cedric De Blaiser, PT, PhD, told Healio.com/Orthopedics.
Researchers used data from 139 first-year physical education students who were monitored during the course of a year and a half through a multilevel injury registration method. Dynamic postural control, isometric core and hip muscle strength, core muscle endurance, core neuromuscular control and proprioception, and functional movement were measured for each participant.
De Blaiser and his colleagues found 24% of participants developed a lower extremity overuse injury. The components of core stability that were found to have predictive effects for an overuse injury were an increased side-to-side difference in dynamic postural control (P = .038) and decreases in isometric hip extension to flexion strength ratio (P = .046) and abdominal core muscle endurance (P = .032).
“I believe that this clinically relevant information will increase the usefulness of our results toward clinicians, such as physical therapists, sports physicians and personal trainers,” he said. – by Alexandria Brooks
Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts