Researchers in Denmark considered whether a child’s ability to balance – referred to as “sway performance” – had an impact on injury risk. Dr. L Runge Larsen and colleagues thought that excessive sway would be linked to an overall increase in injuries.
Over 1,000 kids between 8 and 14 years of age participated in the study with nearly equal amounts of boys and girls. The kids’ injuries were tracked over a period of 1 year and 3 months.
The amount of sway was measured with different physcial tests including the bilateral and unilateral stance. Some of the testing was conducted with participants having their eyes open and others with eyes closed.
Researchers found that kids suffered from a total of 2,276 traumatic injuries. The most common injury was an ankle sprain, followed by knee sprains.
Children with excessive amounts of sway or imbalance also had an increased risk of traumatic injury. Additional research is recommended to better understand sports injury prevention. Learn more info on this interesting medical research.
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