A new study focused on the risk factors for suffering a lateral ankle sprain recently won the highest honor for academic research at the 2017 American Orthopaedic Society of Sports Medicine’s annual meeting.
The paper titled Intrinsic Risk Factors of Lateral Ankle Sprain: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis was awarded the T. David Sisk Award for Research Excellence and also earned the honor of Best International Paper. The Japan-based study was authored by Lead investigator Takumi Kobayashi, Ph.D., P.T. and co-authors Masahiro Shida, M.S.C., P.T. and Masashi Tanaka, M.S.C., P.T. of the Hokkaido Chitose Institute of Rehabilitation Technology, Hokkaido, Japan.
Intrinsic Risk Factors of Lateral Ankle Sprains
The goal of Dr. Kobayashi’s research was to understand the risk factors for one of if not the most common injuries in recreational and competitive sports. The question he asked is far from new, and while many studies have attempted to define intrinsic factors that can predict lateral ankle sprains, no real consensus has been reached. After looking at a comprehensive group of studies from a wide variety of sources like MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL and Cochrane Register of Clinical Trials, researchers had a total of 1,133 studies on lateral ankle sprain risk factors.
They then used a quality index scoring system to evaluate the quality of each study in order to draw conclusions from only the studies that had the strongest evidence. After narrowing it down to a smaller group of quality studies on the subject, researchers found that these risk factors were the strongest predictors of suffering a lateral ankle sprain.
- Elevated Body Mass Index
- Slow eccentric inversion strength
- Fast concentric plantar flexion strength
- Passive inversion joint position sense
- Peroneus brevis reaction time
Researchers concluded that all of the above factors increased a person’s risk of suffering a lateral ankle sprain, and therefore the findings can provide physicians and trainers with a concrete list of identifiable risk factors for sprains. By knowing which factors increase a person’s likelihood for a sprain, doctors and trainers can come up with prevention and conditioning techniques to decrease an athlete’s likelihood of injury. It’s great to see quality medical research on ankles and feet be given such a prestigious award. Hopefully we can all take something from these findings and help keep our athletes injury free.
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