Effects of sudden unexpected mechanical perturbation training aimed at the primary prevention of inversion ankle sprain on reactiveness of ankle movement and cortical activity in normal young adults.
Kaori Ohta, Teiji Kimura
PMID 30936639WHAT IT FOUND
Four weeks of sudden ankle perturbation training shortened the time before the lower-leg muscle reached peak activity compared with self-paced plate movement.
Plate repositioning and brain activity did not differ clearly between groups.
Key findings
01After 4 weeks, sudden perturbation training gave a shorter time to peak activity in the lower-leg muscle than self-paced training (124.7 milliseconds vs 174.86 milliseconds post-training).
02Sudden perturbation training had a faster plate repositioning time after training (259.13 milliseconds) than self-paced training (321.72 milliseconds) and control (338.38 milliseconds); the overall test found a group difference, but follow-up pairwise comparisons did not show a clear difference.
03Brain blood-oxygen activity did not differ between groups after training.
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 reaction times and brain signals, not actual inversion ankle sprain rates. Participants were healthy young adults with no history of ankle sprain that required medical care, so results may not apply to injured or athletic populations. Only 19 participants per group were analysed, and three were excluded, including two for extreme plate repositioning times. The training lasted 4 weeks, and long-term retention of any effect was not observed. Brain activity did not differ between groups after training, and each group had increases in some areas, so the brain signal change is not clearly training-specific.
Declared interests
The study was funded by a Japan Science and Technology Agency research grant, and the authors reported no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that sudden perturbation training prevents ankle sprains. The study measured muscle reaction time, plate repositioning, and brain blood-oxygen signals in healthy young adults, not sprain incidence, and some between-group results were not clear.