Effect of Prophylactic Ankle-Brace Use During a High School Competitive Basketball Season on Dynamic Postural Control.

CONTEXT: Few studies have evaluated the long-term effects of prophylactic ankle-brace use during a sport season.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effects of prophylactic ankle-brace use during a high school basketball season on dynamic postural control and functional tests.

DESIGN

Prospective repeated-measures design.

SETTING

High school athletic facility.

PARTICIPANTS

21 healthy high school basketball athletes (13 girls, 8 boys).

INTERVENTIONS: The order of testing was randomized using the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) for posteromedial (PM), medial (M), and anteromedial (AM) directions and 3 functional tests (FT) consisting of the single-leg crossover hop, single-leg vertical jump, and the single-leg 6-m hop for time at pre-, mid-, and postseason. After pretesting, the ankle brace was worn on both limbs during the entire 16-wk competitive basketball season.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: SEBT for PM, M, and AM and 3 single-leg FTs.

RESULTS

Dynamic postural control using the SEBT and the 3 FTs improved over time, notably from pretest to posttest. The left limb was different from the right limb during the single-leg vertical jump. Effect sizes were large for pretest to posttest for the 3 SEBT directions and 2 of the 3 FTs.

CONCLUSIONS

The 16-wk basketball prophylactic ankle-brace intervention significantly improved dynamic postural control and single-limb FTs over time.