Rw. Wilson et al., RELIABILITY AND RESPONSIVENESS OF DISABLEMENT MEASURES FOLLOWING ACUTE ANKLE SPRAINS AMONG ATHLETES, The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy, 27(5), 1998, pp. 348-355
The minimum amount of change which represents clinical improvement fol
lowing ankle sprains is unknown. This study considers the usefulness o
f physiological and behavioral measures commonly employed for this pur
pose in sports rehabilitation settings. Thirteen collegiate athletes o
f both genders were measured at approximately 3 and 10 days post-grade
I or II ankle sprain. Volumetric displacement and sagittal plane ankl
e range of motion measures were used as impairment indicators. Motor a
bility scores (activity count) and a perceived athletic ability measur
e (visual analog scale) were used to indicate functional limitations.
Volumetric displacement and both functional limitation measures demons
trated responsiveness to change between two occasions of measurement s
eparated by I week. Observed changes in range of motion deficits could
not be distinguished from measurement error. The results of this stud
y suggest that behavioral measures of motor activity and perceived ath
letic ability may be at least as useful as physical measures of organi
c dysfunction for assessing clinical improvement following acute ankle
sprains among athletes.