Table 1 Overview of clinical measurements
Clinical measurement | Technique |
|---|---|
Weight bearing ankle joint dorsiflexion ROM (knee flexed) [32] | • Participant stands facing the wall and places two hands on the wall shoulder-width apart. The leg being tested is positioned perpendicular to the wall and they extend their ipsilateral hip. • Participant then performs the lunge, dorsiflexing their ankle to its maximum end-point with the participant’s knee flexed. • The foot must remain perpendicular to the wall and their calcaneus must remain on the ground. • The digital inclinometer is then placed on the anterior aspect of their tibia, approximately 15 cm distal to the tibial tuberosity and the angle recorded. |
Weight bearing ankle joint dorsiflexion ROM (knee extended) [33] | • As described above but with the knee extended. |
Hamstring ROM [34] | • Participant is supine with the hip and ipsilateral knee flexed to 90 degrees. • Assessor extends the knee with the inclinometer, attached to the neoprene material, on the anterior tibia until the end ROM. |
Internal and external hip ROM (hip flexed to 90 degrees) [35] | • Participant is positioned in a supine position with their hip and knee at 90 degrees and their lower legs are hanging over the edge of the examination chair. • Assessor rotates hip through internal ROM, holding the lower leg that has the inclinometer attached to the neoprene material, until the end of internal ROM. The inclinometer is positioned on the distal third of the fibula. • The same is then done for external ROM. |
Internal and external hip ROM (hip extended to 180 degrees) [35] | • As described above but the participant is lying on their back so that the hip is at 180 degrees. The knee remains flexed at 90 degrees. |
Frontal plane ankle joint ROM [36] | • Participants is seated with their hip and knee at 90 degrees. • The goniometer will be placed on the front of their ankle and top of their foot. The goniometer will be positioned at the midpoint between the malleoli and align with the second digit of the foot being tested. • Participants will be instructed to maximally invert and evert their foot, with the change in angle from the most everted to the most inverted recorded. |
• Participant stands upright with a hand on the outside of the ipsilateral thigh. • Participant then laterally flexes so that the hand moves distally on the thigh to the end ROM. • The distance from the starting position of the middle finger to its final position will be measured with a tape measure. | |
Foot posture index (FPI) [40] | • Participants stand in their normal base of gait and take 6–8 steps on the spot. • The assessor will then grade each foot once against the 6 criteria of the FPI and assign a score. |
• Using the Delsys Trigno electromyographic device, three side-lying hip abduction maximum voluntary isometric contractions (MVIC) for 5 s, with a 60 s rest between contractions, and resistance applied by the examiner at the ankle, will be conducted • Gluteus medius data will be recorded once barefoot and shod on a hard level surface, at the participant’s self-selected comfortable walking speed, for ten seconds (minimum of five strides). | |
• Using the Shenzhen Mindray M5 ultrasound, three Images will be taken at each of the following: rest, during an active straight leg raise (ASLR) on the right to a height of 20 cm, and an abdominal drawing in manoeuvre (ADIM). • At rest and during the ASLR, the participants will be positioned supine with hips and knees flat on the plinth and arms by their side. A supine hook lying position, with hips flexed to 40–60 degrees and knees flexed to 90–100 degrees, will be used for the ADIM. For the ADIM, participants will be instructed to draw their belly button towards their spine. • Three images will be taken for each position and all will be collected at the end of normal exhalation. |