Movement Efficiency in Chronic Ankle Instability Patients: Examining the Individual Movement Errors in Fusionetics and the Landing Error Scoring System

Chronic ankle instability is a condition that has multiple risk factors but no formal screening tool to measure them. It results as a continuation of untreated lateral ankle sprains and various functional and mechanical changes that ultimately cause instability. The use of functional tasks has been put forward as a means to differentiate movement patterns in individuals with diagnosed CAI. In a clinical setting, the Fusionetics and the LESS are two screening tools that are used to determine movement quality in the upper and lower extremities. Research has been performed to examine the overall scores of each platform to see if there is a significant difference in movers with and without CAI. This study proved inconclusive; however, recent thought has shifted toward breaking down each functional task and looking at the individual errors for trends in each group. The objective of this case control study is to examine the presence and/or absence of individual errors from two screening tools for movement quality, the LESS and Fusionetics, and determine if these errors show trends in movement patterns in those individuals with chronic ankle instability when compared to controls. We hypothesize that the percentages of errors made in the experimental (CAI) group will be higher, indicating poorer movement quality, and more common in both screening platforms when compared to the control group. The data showed one (1) difference between groups in the Fusionetics single leg squat task; no other errors showed group differences. Further research might look at tools that are oriented for both clinical and research settings and that are sensitive enough to pick up errors made at the ankle during functional activity.Bachelor of Art