The effects of knee brace use on landing error, balance, and crossover hop test in healthy athletes

Abstract

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to examine the effects of knee brace use on landing error after jumping, balance and crossover hop test (CHT) in healthy athletes.

Methods: After recording the descriptive information of the healthy volunteer athletes and measuring the lower extremity joint range of motion, and the Q angle at the knee, participants were randomized. During the study, randomization was carried out as follows: those who did not use knee braces (Group_Non), those who used simple knee braces (Group_Basic) and those who used ligament-supported knee braces (Group_Lig). Y-balance test of lower extremity (YBTL), CHT, and landing error scoring after jumping were applied to the participants.

Results: A total of 56 professional athletes (Group_Non, n=19; Group_Basic, n=19; Group_Lig, n=18) participated in the study. Characteristics of the participants did not reveal any difference (p>0.05). Compared with the other two groups, lower hip extension range of motion was observed in Group_Non (p˂0.05), and no difference was observed in other lower extremity descriptive data (p>0.05). Furthermore, comparing to the other two groups, a significant (p=0.014) increase was observed only in the velocity of CHT applied to the non-dominant extremity of Group_Basic. No significant difference was observed in the other evaluated parameters (p>0.05). As a result of intra-group correlation analyses, different levels of relationship were determined between the landing results after the jumping and various biomechanical properties according to the choice of knee brace (p˂0.05).

Conclusion: It would be appropriate to choose the knee brace to be used in healthy athletes by taking into account the biomechanical defining characteristics of the athlete.

This study was presented at 19^th Turkish Sports Medicine Congress with International Participation held in İzmir on 3-5 November, 2023.
Cite this article as: Kiyak G, Uyan AS, Arslan E, Acar HT, Ercan S, Cetin C. The effects of knee brace use on landing error, balance, and crossover hop test in healthy athletes. Turk J Sports Med. 2024;59(3):105-11; https://doi.org/10.47447/tjsm.0813

The study was approved by the Süleyman Demirel University Clinical Research Ethics Board of Medical Faculty's decision no. 192, dated 23/07/2020.

Concept: SE, CÇ; design: SE, CÇ; materials: SE, CÇ; data collection and processing: EA, HTA, GK, ASU; analysis and interpretation: ASU, SE; literature review: SE, EA, HTA, GK, ASU; writing manuscript: EA, HTA, GK; critical reviews: SE, CÇ.

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.

We thank Dr. Ayhan Canbulut, Dr. Furkan Hasan Küçük, Arden Medical, and all the participants who contributed to the study.