Use the Back button in your browser to see the other results of your search or to select another record.

Detailed Search Results

Effects of ankle dorsiflexion range and pre-exercise calf muscle stretching on injury risk in army recruits
Pope R, Herbert R, Kirwan J
Australian Journal of Physiotherapy 1998;44(3):165-172
clinical trial
3/10 [Eligibility criteria: Yes; Random allocation: Yes; Concealed allocation: No; Baseline comparability: No; Blind subjects: No; Blind therapists: No; Blind assessors: No; Adequate follow-up: No; Intention-to-treat analysis: No; Between-group comparisons: Yes; Point estimates and variability: Yes. Note: Eligibility criteria item does not contribute to total score] *This score has been confirmed*

This study investigated effects of ankle dorsiflexion range and pre-exercise calf muscle stretching on relative risk of selected injuries in 1093 male army recruits undertaking 12 weeks of intensive training. Prior to training, ankle dorsiflexion range was measured and recruits were allocated to stretch and control groups using a quasi-random procedure. The stretch group stretched calf muscles under supervision prior to all intense exercise. The control group stretched upper limb muscles instead. Forty-eight injuries were recorded. Survival analysis indicated that ankle dorsiflexion range was a strong predictor of injury (p = 0.03). Definitive evidence of an effect of stretching on injury risk was not found (p = 0.76), but the sample size may have been insufficient to detect such an effect.

Full text (sometimes free) may be available at these link(s):      help