Article

Adolescent female athletes have a higher incidence of certain non-contact lower
limb injuries compared to their male counterparts.
Decreased postural stability
is an established risk factor for lower limb injuries; however
developmental-related sex differences in postural stability during adolescence
have not been investigated.
The objectives of this study were to longitudinally
examine changes over time, and potential sex differences in dynamic postural
stability performance in adolescents. One hundred and eighty four adolescent
athletes participated (mean age=13+/-0.34 years). Participants were assessed,
using the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) at baseline (T1) and at 6 (T2), 12
(T3), 18 (T4) and 24 (T5) months. At each time-point, participants performed 3
trials of the anterior, posterior-medial and posterior-lateral directions of the
SEBT on each limb. Reach distance for each direction was averaged across the 3
trials normalised to leg length. General linear mixed model analyses were carried
out on each of the dependant variables (reach directions) with sex and time as
the categorical independent variables. There was a significant sexxtime
interaction for the posterior-lateral reach distance scores. There were no
significant sexxtime interactions for any of the other reach directions. Males
increased performance on the posterior-lateral reach direction from T1 to T5,
while females only increased performance until T3. Young males and females
demonstrate diverging postural stability profiles during adolescence.
CI - Copyright (c) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS