Wobble Board Dynamic Assessment in Subjects with Chronic Ankle Instability

Chronic ankle instability (CAI) has been shown to cause balance impairments during still standing and dynamic postural-control tasks. Although computerized wobble boards (WBs) are used to train postural stability and to assess dynamic balance performances, little is known about their ability to detect balance deficits in subjects with unilateral CAI. PURPOSE: To determine the WB ability in detecting impairments in subjects with unilateral CAI. METHODS: After a familiarization phase, 16 (8 female, 8 male) subjects (age=23.5±1.7years; weight=66.6±14.5kg; height=167.7±11.3cm) performed a single limb task on a WB and Y balance test (YBT). WB performance (Balance Board WSP, Italy; diameter=40cm) was assessed as the time spent in the target zone (diameter=6.5cm) displayed on a screen during a single leg 30seconds trial with a 1-minute sitting rest in between. For YBT, normalized reach distances for anterior (A), posteromedial (PM), posterolateral (PL) directions and composite (COMP) values were recorded according to the protocol. ANOVA (p<.05) was used to evaluate limb differences (injured; uninjured) in relation to gender. RESULTS: For WB, females showed better (p<.05) performances than males, regardless of limb. Significantly (p<.0001) better performaces were found in the uninjured (WB=20±4.3s; A=89.4±9.9%; PM=101.8±13.1%; PL=107.7±13.4%; COMP=104±10.9%) limb compared to the injured (WB=16.6±4.3s; A=86.1±11.6%; PM=96.1±10.7%; PL=101.3±14.9%; COMP=100.2±11.9%) one, regardless of gender. CONCLUSIONS: WB test showed to be an effective tool for detecting balance deficits between injured and uninjured limb in subjects with unilateral CAI. The single outcome from the WB provided an accurate, precise and fast method for quantifying balance deficits in individuals with CAI. Hence, WBs have the capability to fill the gap caused by limitations between subjective-based clinical assessment and laboratorybased testing. Their affordable, portable and user-friendly nature make WBs suitable to be used outside of laboratory settings and helpful in clinical-decision making. Gender differences during the WB test could be due to anthropometric, neuromuscular and neurophysiologic factors. Therefore, future studies should investigate the influence of anthropometric factors on WB performances.