Is femoral cartilage thickness associated with rectus femoris thickness and thigh muscle strength in adolescent female basketball players?
Şerife Şeyma Torgutalp1
, Naila Babayeva2, Gürhan Dönmez3, Ömer Özkan4, Levend Karaçoban3, Levent Özçakar5
1Sports Medicine Section, Gaziler Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
2Sports Medicine Section, Azerbaijan National Institute of Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, Bakü, Azerbaijan
3Sports Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
4Sports Medicine Section, Gaziantep Dr. Ersin Arslan Training and Research Hospital, Gaziantep, Turkey
5Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, Faculty of Medicine,Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
Keywords: Cartilage, knee, quadriceps, muscle thickness, muscle strength, ultrasonography
Abstract
Objective: To measure femoral cartilage (FC) thickness and to evaluate the association between FC thickness and isokinetic muscle strength and rectus femoris (RF) muscle thickness in adolescent female basketball players.
Materials and Methods: A total of 31 female adolescent basketball athletes with a mean age of 12.3 years (SD: 0.9) were included. Isokinetic measurements were performed on quadriceps and hamstring muscles bilaterally using a dynamometer. Bilateral RF and FC thicknesses were evaluated by ultrasonography. For FC thickness, three mid-point measurements were taken bilaterally from each knee as follows: lateral condyle, intercondylar area, and medial condyle. Mean FC thickness for each knee was calculated by values pertaining to the medial and lateral condyles, and the intercondylar area.
Results: Right and left mean FC thickness values were 0.23 (SD: 0.03) cm and 0.22 (SD: 0.03) cm. While there was a significant positive correlation between right and left FC thicknesses (r = 0.79, p < 0.001), no correlations were observed between FC and RF thicknesses or between the FC thickness and isokinetic quadriceps and hamstring strength.
Conclusion: The mean FC thickness does not seem to correlate either with the RF thickness or with the thigh muscle strength in adolescent female basketball players.
Cite this article as: Torgutalp SS, Babayeva N, Donmez G, Ozkan O, Karacoban L, Ozcakar L. Is femoral cartilage thickness associated with rectus femoris thickness and thigh muscle strength in adolescent female basketball players? Turk J Sports Med. 2022, 57(2):67-72; https://doi.org/10.47447/tjsm.0620
The approval for this study was obtained from Hacettepe University Clinical Research Ethics Committee (Decision no: 2020/17-34 Date: 20.10.2020).
Concept All authors; Design All authors; Supervision GD, LÖ; Materials All authors; Data Collection and/or Processing ŞŞT, NB, GD, ÖÖ, LK; Analysis and Interpretation ŞŞT, NB; Literature Review ŞŞT, NB; Writing Manuscript ŞŞT, NB; Critical Reviews All authors.
All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to authorship and/or publication of the article.
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or publication of this article.
