How is Calf Muscle Endurance Related to Ankle Injuries in TeamGym Athletes?

Ankle Injuries Clinical Trial

Official title:

How is Calf Muscle Endurance Related to Ankle Injuries in TeamGym Athletes?

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05323773
• Other study ID #: Projektfot1
• Status: Completed
• Start date: April 30, 2022
• Est. completion date: October 12, 2023

Study information

• Verified date: February 2024
• Source: Göteborg University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

The specific aims of this study are to:

• describe how many heel raises and side hops TG athletes of various ages can perform and how far they can jump, one leg at a time.

• examine how calf muscle endurance and hop performance are related to the risk of new injuries in the foot, ankle, and lower leg in TG athletes.

The investigators hypothesise that atletes with superior performance in the tests for muscular endurance and hop performance will report fewer injuries during the follow up period.

Description:

TeamGym (TG) is the most common gymnastics discipline in Sweden. There is a relatively high injury incidence of 2,2-3,4 injuries per 1000 hours of gymnastic activity. Muscular fatigue has been proposed as a risk factor for sustaining an injury in gymnastics, but this has yet not been examined.

In TG, the lower extremity is more susceptible to injuries than the spine and upper extremity, with injury rates ranging between 60 - 77% for the lower extremity. More specifically, the foot, ankle, and the lower leg account for 40 - 56% of all reported injuries, consisting mostly of ankle injuries.

In clinical and research settings, heel raises and side hops are commonly used to assess muscular endurance in the lower leg. Furthermore, it is common to also include a hop performance test to assess the physical capacity of an athlete following an injury to the foot, ankle, or lower leg. However, there are normative values published of the aforementioned tests, in TG athletes

The overall purpose of this project is to facilitate and improve the caretaking of TG athletes who have sustained various types of injuries in the foot, ankle and lower leg.

Specific aims are to:

• describe how many heel raises and side hops TG athletes of various ages can perform and how far they can jump, one leg at a time.

• examine how calf muscle endurance and hop performance are related to the risk of new injuries in the foot, ankle, and lower leg in TG athletes.

The investigatorshypothesise that atletes with superior performance in the tests for muscular endurance and hop performance will report fewer injuries during the follow up period.

About 200 athletes who regulary participate in TeamGym training (at least once per week) and understand written and spoken Swedish will be included in this study.

Athletes with a recent injury to the foot, ankle, or lower leg or the presence of with other injuries to the lower limb or spine that may be accentuated or affect test results will be excluded.

Data regarding numbers of new injuries (acute and overuse injuries) in the foot, ankle and/or lower leg within six months after baseline testing aswell as severity score of the overuse injuries will be measured bi-weekly with the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center (OSTRC) questionnaire.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 107
• Est. completion date: October 12, 2023
• Est. primary completion date: September 16, 2023
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 13 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Regular participation in TeamGym training (at least once per week)

• Understanding written and spoken Swedish

Exclusion Criteria:

• Recent (defined as: in the last 4 weeks before baseline testing) injury to the foot, ankle, or lower leg = exclusion from hop tests.

• Presence of other injuries to the lower limb or spine that may be accentuated or affect test results.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Ankle Injuries
• Ankle Sprains
• Cumulative Trauma Disorders
• Foot Injuries
• Foot Injury
• Overuse Injury
• Wounds and Injuries

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Sweden	Göteborg University	Gothenburg

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Susanne Beischer	Umeå University

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Sweden, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	New injury	Number of new acute/overuse injuries in the foot, ankle or lower leg.	Within six months after baseline testing.
Secondary	Severity of overuse injury	Answers from 4 questions regarding severity are scored from 0 to 25, and summed to calculate a severity score between 0 (= no problems) and 100 (= maximum level of problems).	Bi-weekly follow-ups over a 6 month period.