Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2026
Evaluating Postural Control and Lower-extremity Muscle Activation in Individuals with Chronic Ankle Instability
Published on: September 18, 2020
Fatigue-induced alterations of static and dynamic postural control in athletes with a history of ankle sprain
Simon Steib1, Astrid Zech, Christian Hentschke
1Institute of Sport Science and Sport, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany. simon.steib@sport.uni-erlangen.de
Context:
Sensorimotor control is impaired after ankle injury and in fatigued conditions. However, little is known about fatigue-induced alterations of postural control in athletes who have experienced an ankle sprain in the past.
Objective:
To investigate the effect of fatiguing exercise on static and dynamic balance abilities in athletes who have successfully returned to preinjury levels of sport activity after an ankle sprain.
Design:
Cohort study.
Setting:
University sport science research laboratory.
Patients Or Other Participants:
30 active athletes, 14 with a previous severe ankle sprain (return to sport activity 6-36 months before study entry; no residual symptoms or subjective instability) and 16 uninjured controls.
Intervention(S):
Fatiguing treadmill running in 2 experimental sessions to assess dependent measures.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Center-of-pressure sway velocity in single-legged stance and time to stabilization (TTS) after a unilateral jump-landing task (session 1) and maximum reach distance in the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) (session 2) were assessed before and immediately after a fatiguing treadmill exercise. A 2-factorial linear mixed model was specified for each of the main outcomes, and effect sizes (ESs) were calculated as Cohen d.
Results:
In the unfatigued condition, between-groups differences existed only for the anterior-posterior TTS (P = .05, ES = 0.39). Group-by-fatigue interactions were found for mean SEBT (P = .03, ES = 0.43) and anterior-posterior TTS (P = .02, ES = 0.48). Prefatigue versus postfatigue SEBT and TTS differences were greater in previously injured athletes, whereas static sway velocity increased similarly in both groups.
Conclusions:
Fatiguing running significantly affected static and dynamic postural control in participants with a history of ankle sprain. Fatigue-induced alterations of dynamic postural control were greater in athletes with a previous ankle sprain. Thus, even after successful return to competition, ongoing deficits in sensorimotor control may contribute to the enhanced ankle reinjury risk.
