Relationship Between 2-Dimensional Frontal Plane Measures and the Knee Abduction Angle During the Drop Vertical Jump

Knee abduction angle (KAA), as measured by 3-dimensional marker-based motion capture systems during jump-landing tasks, has been correlated with an elevated risk of anterior cruciate ligament injury in females. Due to the high cost and inefficiency of KAA measurement with marker-based motion capture, surrogate 2-dimensional frontal plane measures have gained attention for injury risk screening. The knee-to-ankle separation ratio (KASR) and medial knee position (MKP) have been suggested as potential frontal plane surrogate measures to the KAA, but investigations into their relationship to the KAA during a bilateral drop vertical jump task are limited. To investigate the relationship between KASR and MKP to the KAA during initial contact of the bilateral drop vertical jump. Descriptive. Biomechanics laboratory. A total of 18 healthy female participants (mean age: 24.1 [3.88] y, mass: 65.18 [10.34] kg, and height: 1.63 [0.06] m). Participants completed 5 successful drop vertical jump trials measured by a Vicon marker-based motion capture system and 2 AMTI force plates. For each jump, KAA of the tibia relative to the femur was measured at initial contact along with the KASR and MKP calculated from planar joint center data. The coefficient of determination (r) was used to examine the relationship between the KASR and MKP to KAA. A strong linear relationship was observed between MKP and KAA (r = .71), as well as between KASR and KAA (r² = .72). Two-dimensional frontal plane measures show strong relationships to the KAA during the bilateral drop vertical jump.