Open AccessPEDI-CHAMP© AGILITY TEST VARIES BY AGE, GENDER AND SPORT SPECIALIZATION IN YOUTH ATHLETES
Author(s) -
Kirsten Tulchin-Francis,
Sophia Ulman
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
orthopaedic journal of sports medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 35
ISSN - 2325-9671
DOI - 10.1177/2325967121s00147
Subject(s) - athletes , test (biology) , mann–whitney u test , youth sports , physical therapy , medicine , kruskal–wallis one way analysis of variance , pairwise comparison , sports medicine , psychology , developmental psychology , paleontology , biology
Background: The Pediatric Comprehensive High-Level Activity Mobility Predictor (Pedi-CHAMP©) is a 4-part agility test aimed to assess functional performance in children with and without sports medicine injuries or orthopedic conditions. The Pedi-CHAMP© assesses bilateral single limb balance, lateral agility, directional changes, and acceleration/deceleration.Hypothesis/Purpose: To determine if the Pedi-CHAMP component (Single-Limb-Stance [SLS], modified Edgren Side Step [mESS], L-Test, Illinois Agility Test [IAT]) and composite scores are stratified based on age, sex, and sport-type/specialization in youth athletes.Methods: Youth athletes were recruited to complete the Pedi-CHAMP© either as an independent test or as part of larger battery of tests (Specialized Athlete Functional Evaluation [SAFE] Program). Completion times for each test component were converted to points using age-sex matched scoring algorithms. Each participant also answered questions to determine specialization in organized sports (defined as competition with a referee, umpire, etc.). Kruskal-Wallis was used to assess differences based on age groups (elementary [E, 5-9yrs], preteen [PT, 10-12yrs], early teen [ET, 13-15yrs], late teen/young adult [LT, 16-22yrs]), with Mann-Whitney U pairwise post-hoc comparisons (α<0.05). Independent Mann-Whitney U tests were used to assess differences based on sex, sport type (low vs high impact) and specialization (single vs multi-sport) within each age group.Results: A total of 251 youth athletes (134 females, age 13.7±3.3yrs; BMI 20.9±5.9) completed Pedi-CHAMP© testing. Significant differences were seen with the Pedi-CHAMP© component and composite scores between all ages ( p<0.001, Table 1), however, there were no differences between ET and LT groups for the SLS or mESS. When assessing age and sex, elementary-aged girls demonstrated improved SLS balance ( p=0.017), and mESS scores were higher in preteen boys compared to girls ( p=0.022). However, all 3 agility components (mESS, L-Test, IAT) and the Pedi-CHAMP© composite scores were significantly higher in boys compared to girls for the ET and LT groups. When accounting for age, there were no differences in single-sport vs. multi-sport athletes. ET and LT low-impact athletes scored lower on the L-test compared to high-impact athletes.Conclusion: The Pedi-CHAMP© was able to detect differences based on age, sex and sport impact-type (low- vs. high-impact). Performance improves with age for the L-Test and IAT, however, no differences in SLS and mESS were seen between younger and older teens which may indicate a ceiling effect for these two components. Further research should focus on correlating the Pedi-CHAMP© to other performance measures in youth athletes.Tables/Figures: [Table: see text][Table: see text]