Article Text
Abstract
Background There is a significant lack of studies looking into the role of contralateral factors in the kinetic chain of subjects predisposed to exertional medial tibial pain (EMTP).
Design Hip muscle strength and 3D kinematic parameters during a single leg drop jump (SLDJ) were prospectively evaluated.
Setting Subjects were tested at the beginning of their first academic year and followed throughout one or two years.
Participants 81 healthy female physical education students, were tested at the beginning of their first academic year and followed throughout 1 or 2 years.
Risk factor assessment Cox regression analysis was used to identify the potential risk factors for the development of EMTP.
Main outcome measurements It was hypothesized that in a subject predisposed to EMTP, differences in contralateral factors can be determined when compared to subjects not predisposed to EMTP.
Results After exclusion of subjects with diagnosed bilateral EMTP, 11 subjects were included in the EMTP-group. The leg not at risk for EMTP within EMTP-predisposed subjects was compared with an uninjured leg of the control group. Analysis of the isokinetic data did not reveal altered hip muscle strength parameters for the leg not at risk within EMTP-subjects. However, increased accessory movement in the transverse plane for the contralateral knee during landing phase, was found to be a significant predictor (P=.012) for EMTP.
Conclusions Impaired DJS or accessory movement was found in the transverse plane of the contralateral lower leg of subjects who developed EMTP, which may speculate that this factor contributed to altered movement patterns within the kinetic chain function of the subjects who developed EMTP. No contralateral decreased isokinetic hip muscle strength was found to be a significant predictor for EMTP in this study.