Kronik ayak bileği instabilitesi olan sporcularda unilateral denge eğitiminin bilateral denge ve patlayıcı güç üzerine etkisi

The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of a 4-week, unilateral balance exercise training program on bilateral balance and explosive power in athletes with chronic ankle instability (CAI). The study included 28 volunteer athletes with a history of CAI (15F, 13M; 20.96±1.50 years) who registered as a team player at Yeditepe University Culture and Sports Directorate December 2018 - May 2019. The severity of functional ankle instability of all the athletes was assessed by the Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool (CAIT). Functional limitations of the athletes with CAI were evaluated by Foot and Ankle Ability Measure Activity of Daily Living Subscale (FAAM-ADL) and Sports Subscale (FAAM-S). Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) was used to determine the static balance performance of athletes. Dynamic balance was evaluated by the Y Balance Test (YBT). Sport performance including vertical jumping and hopping was assessed with Single-Legged Countermovement Jump (CMJ) Test, Figure-of-Eight Hop Test, and Side Hop Test. The athletes were randomly divided into Rehabilitation for the Stable Ankle Group (SG) (n=9), Rehabilitation for the Unstable Ankle Group (UG) (n=9) and Control Group (CG) (n=10) Athletes in SG and UG were included balance exercise training program. The balance exercise training program was administered for only the stable ankle of athletes in SG and only the unstable ankle of athletes in UG, twice a week and for a 4-week duration. According to the main results of this study comparing three groups, SG and UG showed greater improvement in FAAM-ADL, FAAM-S, BESS, YBT, CMJ, Figure-8 Test and Side Hop Test values (p<0.01 for both SG and UG). Consistent with the hypothesis, our findings suggest that the balance exercise training only applied to the stable ankle may provide improvements in terms of functionality, static and dynamic balance and explosive power on the unstable ankle of athletes with CAI. Key Words: ankle, joint instability, athlete, cross-education, balance, rehabilitation