Functional performance tests identify lateral ankle sprain risk: A prospective pilot study in adolescent soccer players

Determining the clinical utility of functional performance tests ( FPT s) and establishing cutoff scores could be useful in identifying those athletes who could benefit from effective injury prevention interventions. Our purpose was to determine the accuracy of FPT s in identifying adolescent athletes who go on to experience lateral ankle sprain(s) and establish specific cutoff scores capable of identifying those who sustain a lateral ankle sprain in the near future. Sixty‐four participants (age = 15.5 ± 1.3 years; height = 161.7 ± 7.7 cm; mass = 57.1 ± 8.4 kg) were recruited from a junior soccer club and tracked for 10 months. Participants performed the anterior ( AN ), posterior‐medial ( PM ), and posterior‐lateral ( PL ) reach directions of the Star Excursion Balance Test ( SEBT ) and the Single‐Leg Hop Test ( SLHT ) in pre‐season, and then were followed for the 10‐month competitive season (12 injured, 52 uninjured). Significant Area Under the Curve ( AUC ) values and cutoff scores were found for the PM ( AUC  = 0.78; 95% CI 0.61‐0.95; P  = 0.003; Sn = 0.83; Sp = 0.77; cutoff = 76%) and the PL ( AUC  = 0.82; 95% CI 0.71‐0.94; P  = 0.001; Sn = 0.92; Sp = 0.65; cutoff = 70%) reach directions of the SEBT and the SLHT ( AUC  = 0.77; 95% CI 0.60‐0.95; P  = 0.003; Sn = 0.67; Sp = 0.94; cutoff = 15.4 seconds). The PM and PL reach directions of the SEBT and the SLHT may be useful as pre‐season screening measures to help clinicians identify adolescents who will go on to experience a lateral ankle sprain.