OBJECTIVE: To track the patient-reported efficacy of a 4-wk intervention (wobble board (WB) or resistance tubing (RT)) in decreasing symptoms of chronic ankle instability (CAI) at 6 mo post-intervention (6PI) as compared with immediately post-intervention (IPI). DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. PARTICIPANTS: Fourteen of 21 participants (66.7%) responded to an electronic 6-m follow-up questionnaire (age 19.6 +/- 0.9 y, height 1.63 +/- 0.18 m, weight 70.5 +/- 16.3 kg; 2 male, 12 female; 5 WB, 9 RT). All participants met CAI criteria at enrollment, including a history of ankle sprain and recurrent episodes of giving way. INTERVENTIONS: Participants completed either RT or WB protocols, both 12 sessions over 4 wk of progressive exercise. WB sessions consisted of five 40-s sets of clockwise and counter-clockwise rotations. RT sessions consisted of 30 contractions against resistance tubing in each of 4 ankle directions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Patient-reported symptoms of "giving way" pre-intervention and at 6PI, global rating of change (GRC) frequencies at IPI and 6PI, and re-sprains at 6PI were reported descriptively. Changes in global rating of function (GRF) and giving way were compared using Wilcoxon tests, while GRC was compared with Fisher exact test. RESULTS: All participants reported giving way pre-intervention, only 57.1% reported giving way at 6PI. Re-sprains occurred in 21.4% of participants. Giving-way frequency (p = 0.017), but not GRF or GRC (p > 0.05), was significantly different at IPI versus 6PI. CONCLUSIONS: Simple 4-wk interventions maintained some but not all improvements at 6PI. At least 42.9% of participants would no longer meet the current study's CAI inclusion criteria due to a reduction in giving way.
Copyright Human Kinetics. Reprinted with permission from Human Kinetics (Champaign, IL).

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