Cognitive-Motor Dual-Task Performance of the Landing Error Scoring System

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Motor Control
• Sports Medicine

Background:

• The Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) is widely used for assessing biomechanical landing errors.
• Current LESS protocols do not incorporate cognitive load, limiting understanding of dual-task costs in landing.
• It remains unclear if LESS can identify cognitive-motor interference affecting lower extremity injury risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the suitability of the LESS for assessing dual-task performance in uninjured women.
• To determine if specific LESS landing criteria are more susceptible to cognitive load.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study was conducted with 20 healthy, active female participants.
• Participants performed the LESS under single-task (baseline) and dual-task (visual or number-based cognitive distraction) conditions.
• Repeated-measures ANOVA and chi-square analyses compared LESS scores and error frequencies across conditions.

Main Results:

• Participants showed significantly higher sagittal-plane and total LESS errors during the visual dual-task condition compared to single-task landings.
• No significant differences were found in the frequency of individual LESS item errors between conditions.
• The LESS demonstrated sensitivity to dual-task costs in overall landing performance.

Conclusions:

• The LESS effectively detected dual-task costs in landing errors, particularly under visual cognitive load.
• Findings support the potential of dual-task paradigms within traditional injury risk-reduction strategies.
• Further research is recommended to integrate dual-task assessments into clinical practice for lower extremity injury prevention.