Limited incremental value of balance and plantar-pressure measures beyond baseline CAIT for a 12-month composite ankle-instability outcome in competitive badminton players

Description

Wangda Li asks whether fancy balance and foot-pressure tests can outpredict one simple questionnaire for ankle trouble in badminton players, in this study from twenty twenty-six. The questionnaire, the CAIT, scores felt ankle instability. Players across seven centers were tested, then followed monthly for a year to see whose ankles gave way, resprained, or ached on.

The answer was largely no. The baseline questionnaire alone predicted the year's outcome better than a six-measure equipment model. Adding the equipment numbers to it gained nothing, and decision analysis showed no consistent benefit. Most outcomes were the persistence of instability already visible at baseline, not new breakdowns, which flatters any baseline score. Among players starting with good scores, prediction was weak all round. The author advises against buying the gear for screening: the cheap form already holds what the sensors add.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13561929