Abstract:

Context: The clinical evaluation of jump-landing patterns is important for identifying individuals who may be at risk for lower extremity injuries, particularly at the knee.  The Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) has been reported to be a valid and reliable method of clinically assessing jump-landing patterns.  However, there is limited information regarding the influence of a previous injury on jump-landing patterns as evaluated by the LESS.  Objective: To determine whether jump-landing movements and scores, as assessed by the LESS, differ based on knee injury history.  Design: Cross-sectional.  Setting: College athletic training facilities.  Patients or Other Participants: Intercollegiate athletes who had a history of a severe knee injury (SKI), defined as an injury causing loss of participation for ≥10 days (male=12, female=25, age=19.2±1.7 years, height=174.4±10.7 cm, mass=71.3±13.6 kg), a mild knee injury (MKI), defined as an injury causing loss of participation for >1 but <10 days (male=15, female=16, age=19.1±1.1 years, height=174.5±11.7 cm, mass=70.0±11.4 kg), and no knee injury (NKI) (male=89, female=58, age=19.3±1.3 years, height=175.2±10.9 cm, mass=70.8±11.5 kg).  Interventions:  The independent variable was knee injury group. Participants were videotaped from the frontal and sagittal views while performing three trials of a standardized jump-landing task.  Videos were later scored using the LESS (interrater reliability=.84), a 17-item, binary scoring system that counts the number of jump-landing errors (eg, knee valgus angle, foot position, stance width) an individual commits at initial ground contact and at maximum knee flexion.  Each trial produces a total score and the mean of all total scores represents an overall score (OS), with higher scores indicating poorer landing patterns.  OSs were classified into one of four previously reported landing pattern groups (LPG): excellent (≤4), good (>4 to ≤5), moderate (>5 to ≤6), poor (>6).  Main Outcome Measures: Dependent variables were the 17 LESS scoring items (SI), the OS, and the LPG.  For group comparisons, chi-square tests were used for each SI and for the LPG and a one-way ANOVA with multiple comparisons was used for the OS.  Alpha was p<.05.  Results: SKI group (51.1%) landed with a knee valgus angle at initial contact more frequently (x²=7.02, p=.03) than MKI (49.1%) and NKI (31.5%).  There were no other group differences (p>.05) observed for the remaining LIs, the OS, or the LPG.  Conclusions: Our results suggest that landing patterns and LESS scores do not differ based on a previous knee injury.  While previous studies have reported sex differences, little is known about other potential group differences (eg, sport, age-group, lower extremity injury history).  Future studies should continue investigating the sensitivity of the LESS in capturing potential group differences and risk factors that may be important in developing preventative programs for lower extremity injuries.

Presentation:

Kulow SM, Valovich McLeod TC, Bay RC, Hackett G, Lam KC. Knee Injury History Does Not Influence Jump-Landing Patterns: A Clinical Evaluation. Submitted to the 2012 NATA Annual Meeting.

Faculty Spotlight:

Geordie Hackett, MS, ATC, CSCS started his education at Springfield College (SC).  He majored in Athletic Training and minored in Psychology.  While at SC, he played 3 years of collegiate soccer, focusing his senior year on his education. After receiving his athletic training certification, he became the Head ATC at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, NY. Then, he accepted the Head Athletic Trainer position at The Kings School.

Geordie came to AZ for his master's in Sports Health Care at Arizona School of Health Sciences (ASHS), Mesa, AZ.  While at ASHS, he performed clinical rotations with the Chicago Cubs minor league (Mesa, AZ), Scottsdale Community College (Scottsdale, AZ), Arizona Rattler (Phoenix, AZ), STI Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation (Chandler, AZ), and volunteered for ASU's spring football coverage.

Geordie was hired as the Head Athletic Trainer for GCU in 2005.  He began GCU's first organized Strength and Conditioning program in 2007, designing many of the teams' year round seasonal programs.  As the athletic department grew, so did Geordie's programs.  Originally a staff of only three ATC's, Geordie has led his staff to six ATC's covering the health care of the student-athletes.  Geordie is excited with the planning of a new, state of the art athletic training and strength training facilities, as well as working directly with Coach Pennell and the men's basketball team.  Now retired from a 30 year soccer career, Geordie stays competitive racing mountain bikes finishing 4^th out of 50 racers in the state of Arizona for his age group and race category.