Use of double leg injury screening to assess single leg biomechanical risk variables
Darren W Hearn1, Barnett S Frank1, Darin A Padua1
1Department of Exercise and Sport Science, MOTION Science Institute, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
Objectives:
The purpose of this article was to determine if differences in kinematic and kinetic variables observed in a double-leg screen carried over to a single-leg task.
Design:
We used a case-control design with grouping based on performance during a double-leg jump landing.
Setting:
All participants were selected from a large university setting and testing was performed in a biomechanics laboratory.
Participants:
Participants were females between 18 and 25 years of age with at least high school varsity experience in one or more of the following sports: soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, rugby, basketball, or team handball.
Main Outcome Measures:
Primary outcome measures were knee angles in the frontal and sagittal planes as well as vertical ground reaction force (vGRF).
Results:
There were significant between group differences in peak knee flexion and knee flexion displacement during both the double and single-leg tasks, however between group differences for peak knee valgus and knee valgus displacement noted in the double-leg task were not observed in the single-leg task. vGRF was significantly different in the single-leg task but not the double-leg task.
Conclusion:
A double leg screening may not provide complete identification of risk of injury during sports requiring single leg tasks.
