Balance Training for Persons With Functionally Unstable Ankles

Study Design A nonrandomized 2-group pretest-posttest design. Objectives To determine the effects of a 4-week balance training program during stance on a single leg. Background Individuals who have experienced multiple episodes of inversion ankle sprains often participate in balance training programs. Balance training is performed to treat existing proprioceptive deficits and to restore ankle joint stability, presumably by retraining altered afferent neuromuscular pathways. The effectiveness of such programs on individuals with functionally unstable ankles has yet to be established. Methods and Measures Prior to and following training, subjects with self-reported functionally unstable ankles (5 women and 8 men, mean age = 21.9 ± 3.1 years) and nonimpaired subjects (6 women and 7 men, mean age = 21.2 ± 2.5 years) completed a static balance assessment for both limbs as well as the ankle joint functional assessment tool questionnaire (AJFAT). The subjects from both groups participated in a unilateral, multil...