title: Six weeks of balance training improves sensorimotor function in individuals with chronic ankle instability.
abstract: METHODS
  Prospective cohort study.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the effect of 6 weeks of balance training on sensorimotor measures previously found to be deficient in participants with chronic ankle instability (CAI).
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  CAI is the tendency toward repeated ankle sprains and recurring symptoms, occurring in 40% to 70% of individuals who have previously sustained a lateral ankle sprain. Recent studies have found deficits in sensorimotor measures in individuals with CAI. As balance training is a common component of ankle rehabilitation, understanding its effect on the sensorimotorsystem in individuals with CAI may enable us to optimize protocols to better utilize this rehabilitation method.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve participants with CAI and 9 healthy volunteers participated. Independent variables were group (CAI, control) and time (pretraining, posttraining). Participants with CAI who completed a 6-week balance training program and healthy controls who did not get any training were pretested and posttested at the beginning and at the end of 6 weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The individuals in the CAI group who performed balance training demonstrated better performance than control participants on baseline adjusted posttraining measures of dynamic balance in the anterior medial (P = .021), medial (P = .048), and posterior medial directions (P = .030); motoneuron pool excitability Hmax/Mmax ratio (P = .044) and single-limb presynaptic inhibition (P = .012); and joint position sense inversion variable error (P = .017). It may be of note that no systematic differences were detected for static balance or plantar flexion joint position sense tasks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After 6 weeks of balance training, individuals with CAI demonstrated enhanced dynamic balance, inversion joint position sense, and changes in motoneuron pool excitability compared to healthy controls who did not train.
  
  
  METHODS
  Therapy, level 2b.
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849-5323, USA. jmsefton@auburn.edu
authors.forename: Joellen M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sefton
authors.forename: Ceren
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yarar
authors.forename: Charlie A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Hicks-Little
authors.forename: Jack W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.forename: Mitchell L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Cordova
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000843:Ankle Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006181:H-Reflex / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007593:Joint Instability / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology*