Comparative assessment of postural stability and range of motion between the left and right lower limbs in boys aged 14 years

Abstract

Background: Postural stability is defined as a resistance of the body posture to exogenous and endogenous disturbances that can be caused by both environmental variability and by person’s motor activity. Materials and methods: A group of 43 primary school boys aged 14 years was examined. The subjects regularly attended physical education classes for four hours a week: two hours of standard physical education and two hours of training in their football club. First, body height and weight were measured and the laterality of the lower limbs was diagnosed using the Step Forward Test. The static balance was evaluated using the modified Flamingo Balance Test (FBT), whereas the dynamic balance was evaluated using the Y-Balance Test (YBT). The SFTR method was employed to measure the range of motion of the joints of the lower limbs. Results: The results of static balance assessment obtained with the modified FBT for the left lower limb did not differ statistically from the results for the right lower limb. The same result was achieved while assessing the differences in the context of dynamic balance. The mean ranges of the extension during the YBT test in each of the three tested directions were similar for the left and right limbs. The symmetry of the results obtained both for static and dynamic balance may be indicative of a low risk of lower limb injuries. Conclusion: In the study group, the limits of the global YBT index determined to assess the risk of motor system injuries were exceeded in 74% of the boys for the left lower limb and 79% of the boys for the right lower limb. Taking into account the parameters of range of motion, statistically significant differences were found in 5 out of 9 cases between the results for the left and right lower limbs.