Star Excursion Balance Test in Young Athletes with Back Pain

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Biomechanics
• Orthopedics

Background:

• Dynamic postural control (DPC) is crucial for athletic performance and injury prevention.
• The Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) is a validated tool for assessing DPC.
• Back pain (BP) is prevalent in young athletes (YA) and may impact DPC.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if DPC, measured by the SEBT, differs between young athletes with and without back pain.
• To compare SEBT reach distances in specific directions (anterior, posteromedial, posterolateral) between the two groups.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 53 young athletes with back pain (BP YA) and 53 matched young athletes without back pain (NBP YA) participated.
• Participants completed 4 practice trials before 3 recorded SEBT measurements in anterior, posteromedial, and posterolateral reach directions.
• Normalized reach distance was calculated as the mean of the three measurements for each direction.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant differences in normalized reach distances were found between BP YA and NBP YA in the anterior, posteromedial, or posterolateral directions (p > 0.05).
• Specific mean reach distances for BP YA were: Anterior (87.2 ± 5.3), Posteromedial (82.4 ± 8.2), Posterolateral (78.7 ± 8.1).
• Specific mean reach distances for NBP YA were: Anterior (87.8 ± 5.6), Posteromedial (82.4 ± 8.0), Posterolateral (80.0 ± 8.8).

Conclusions:

• Dynamic postural control, as assessed by the SEBT, does not appear to be significantly impaired in young athletes experiencing back pain compared to their pain-free peers.
• These findings suggest that back pain in young athletes may not inherently affect their dynamic balance capabilities as measured by the SEBT.
• Further research could explore other factors influencing DPC or different assessment methods in this population.