Attention is associated with postural control in those with chronic ankle instability.
Adam B Rosen, Nicholas T Than, William Z Smith and 5 others
PMID 28254684WHAT IT FOUND
The chronic ankle instability, Coper, and healthy groups did not differ in attention or static single-leg sway, but within chronic ankle instability attention scores were related to sway.
Key findings
01The chronic ankle instability, Coper, and healthy comparison groups did not differ in sustained attention or sway variables.
02Within the chronic ankle instability group, sustained attention had significant moderate to large relationships with anteroposterior and mediolateral sway measures.
03The Coper group had one significant moderate relationship between sustained attention and anteroposterior sway range, and the healthy comparison group had no observed relationships.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study measured static single-leg balance, so it may miss balance problems that appear only during dynamic, dual-task, or more demanding activities. It did not test an intervention, so it cannot show that attention training would improve balance or reduce giving way. Mechanical laxity was not assessed, so some participants with chronic ankle instability may have had looseness that could affect balance. The sample was mostly college-aged, so findings may not apply to older or younger patients. Three of forty-eight recruited participants were withdrawn, and the Coper criteria allowed one giving-way episode, although all Coper participants reported none.
Declared interests
The authors declared no financial affiliation or involvement with any commercial organization that had a direct financial interest in the manuscript.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that attention training improves balance in chronic ankle instability. This study measured participants once and did not test an intervention, and it did not show that people with chronic ankle instability had worse attention or static single-leg balance than the other groups.