Reliability of a Novel Force Control Task in a Population with No Lower Extremity Injury
Presenter Type
UNO Graduate Student (Doctoral)
Major/Field of Study
Biomechanics
Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4277-5675
Advisor Information
Brian Knarr
Location
CEC RM #201/205/209
Presentation Type
Poster
Poster Size
36"x48"
Start Date
22-3-2024 1:00 PM
End Date
22-3-2024 2:15 PM
Abstract
Background: Athletes who return to cutting and pivoting sports after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) have a 15-fold greater risk of sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury compared to previously uninjured individuals. Neuromuscular assessments during rehabilitation can identify deficits in individuals after ACLR and may be useful as screening tools for ACL re-injury risk. Recently, a neuromuscular force control task has been developed that differentiates control strategies between high-performance athletes, recreational athletes, individuals with an ACL deficiency, and individuals following ACLR. Those with an ACL injury exhibited diminished motor control compared to uninjured individuals. However, the reliability of this methodology has yet to be established.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of the novel force control task in a population with no lower extremity injury.
Methods: Thirteen individuals completed the force control task for medial/lateral (ML) and anterior/posterior (AP) directions for both legs on two separate occasions (1 week apart). While standing on force plates, the participants generated shear forces bi-directionally to the beat of a metronome set at 60 bpm and tried to align the slider on screen with stationary indicators set at 50% of the participant’s maximal force in each direction. The largest Lyapunov exponent (LyE) was calculated from the force profiles for each measure. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) with 95% confidence intervals, standard error of measurement (SEM), and minimum detectable change (MDC) were calculated to assess the reliability.
Results: The ICC values (r=0.78-0.92) across all measures were considered good-excellent, and the Right ML direction was statistically significant (r= 0.92, 95% CI= 0.75-0.98, p=0.025).
Conclusions: This study evaluated the reliability of a novel force control task. Our results indicate that the force control task measures force control variability with good to excellent reliability, with the highest reliability in the Right ML direction.
Reliability of a Novel Force Control Task in a Population with No Lower Extremity Injury
CEC RM #201/205/209
Background: Athletes who return to cutting and pivoting sports after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) have a 15-fold greater risk of sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury compared to previously uninjured individuals. Neuromuscular assessments during rehabilitation can identify deficits in individuals after ACLR and may be useful as screening tools for ACL re-injury risk. Recently, a neuromuscular force control task has been developed that differentiates control strategies between high-performance athletes, recreational athletes, individuals with an ACL deficiency, and individuals following ACLR. Those with an ACL injury exhibited diminished motor control compared to uninjured individuals. However, the reliability of this methodology has yet to be established.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of the novel force control task in a population with no lower extremity injury.
Methods: Thirteen individuals completed the force control task for medial/lateral (ML) and anterior/posterior (AP) directions for both legs on two separate occasions (1 week apart). While standing on force plates, the participants generated shear forces bi-directionally to the beat of a metronome set at 60 bpm and tried to align the slider on screen with stationary indicators set at 50% of the participant’s maximal force in each direction. The largest Lyapunov exponent (LyE) was calculated from the force profiles for each measure. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) with 95% confidence intervals, standard error of measurement (SEM), and minimum detectable change (MDC) were calculated to assess the reliability.
Results: The ICC values (r=0.78-0.92) across all measures were considered good-excellent, and the Right ML direction was statistically significant (r= 0.92, 95% CI= 0.75-0.98, p=0.025).
Conclusions: This study evaluated the reliability of a novel force control task. Our results indicate that the force control task measures force control variability with good to excellent reliability, with the highest reliability in the Right ML direction.