Abstract
Background
A large majority of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are non-contact, most
often occurring during a landing or change of direction. Recent research indicates
that cognitive factors may be involved in non-contact ACL injuries. The aim of this
study was to determine if a game-situation perceptual–cognitive load leads to altered
landing kinematics in physically fatigued female athletes.
Methods
Nineteen female recreational athletes were recruited to perform a series of jumping
and landing trials. In a first phase, eight trials were performed in an isolated condition
and eight were performed while participants performed a perceptual–cognitive task.
Before a second identical phase, participants underwent a muscular fatigue protocol.
Knee-joint kinematics were recorded and compared between conditions using paired t-tests.
Results
Muscle fatigue led to statistically significant increases in peak knee abduction and
peak internal knee rotation as well as a decrease in maximum knee flexion, when comparing
conditions without the perceptual–cognitive task. The perceptual–cognitive task had
no statistically significant effect on any knee rotations, either pre- or post-fatigue.
However, a subgroup of 12 athletes showed a significant increase in knee abduction
in the presence of the perceptual–cognitive task, only in the fatigued condition.
Conclusion
A perceptual–cognitive task combined with muscle fatigue alters knee kinematics of
landing for a subset of recreational athletes, potentially increasing the risk of
ACL rupture. Further studies are necessary to confirm this finding and to identify
characteristics of at-risk individuals to target them for injury prevention protocols.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: December 22, 2018
Accepted:
October 27,
2018
Received in revised form:
October 12,
2018
Received:
February 7,
2018
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
