title: A simplified version of the weight-bearing ankle lunge test: description and test-retest reliability.
abstract: The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to describe a new version of the weight-bearing ankle lunge test (WBLT) that is simple to administer, that allows clinicians and sports medicine practitioners to directly assess (in degrees) the ankle dorsiflexion range of motion in a very short period of time while adopting a comfortable testing position; as well as (2) to determine the test-retest reliability of the ankle dorsiflexion range of motion measure obtained from the new version of the WBLT. A total of 50 active adults completed this study. All participants performed the new version of the WBLT on three different occasions, with a two-week interval between testing sessions. Reliability was examined through the change in the mean between consecutive pairs of testing sessions (ChM), standard error of measurement (SEM), minimal detectable change at 95% confidence interval (MDC95), and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC2,k). The findings showed negligible or trivial ChM values for all the flexibility measures analysed (<1°). Furthermore, the SEM and MDC95 scores for the ankle dorsiflexion measure were 1.3 and 3.8 respectively, and the ICC2k was 0.95. Therefore, this study demonstrated that the ankle dorsiflexion measure obtained from the new version of the WBLT has excellent test-retest reliability scores. Thus, an observed change larger than 3.8° from baseline scores after performing a treatment would indicate that a real change in ankle dorsiflexion range of motion was likely.
authors.affiliation: INACUA Sports Centre, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cejudo
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Activity, University of Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sainz de Baranda
authors.affiliation: Sports Research Centre, Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Alicante, Spain; ISEN University Formation, Center Affiliate to the University of Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: Franciscoayalarodriguez@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ayala
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Murcia, Spain; Department of Traumatology, V. de la Arrixaca University Hospital, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Santonja
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000843:Ankle Joint / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000379:methods; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012494:Sampling Studies; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Dorsiflexion; Range of motion; Reproducibility; Sports therapy