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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living

Sec. Biomechanics and Control of Human Movement

Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1553847

This article is part of the Research Topic Neuromuscular and Biomechanical Alterations in Chronic Ankle Instability View all 3 articles

Postural Control Adaptations to Different Visual Conditions in Dancers and Nondancers with Chronic Ankle Instability

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Graduate School, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
  • 2 University of Nebraska Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska, United States
  • 3 Yonsei University, Seoul, Seoul, Republic of Korea

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Purpose: Even though dancers have good postural control ability, ankle sprain is the most common injury among dancers, developing into chronic ankle instability (CAI). While dancers rely on visual cues during stage and practice, it is unknown how dancers with CAI perform balance in different visual conditions. This study compares 1) static postural control between eyes open and closed, 2) visual reliance, and 3) dynamic postural control among dancers with CAI, uninjured dancers, non-dancers with CAI, and uninjured non-dancers.Methods: Ten dancers with CAI, 10 uninjured dancers, 10 non-dancers with CAI, and 10 uninjured non-dancers.Participants performed single-leg standing with eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC) conditions. COP area, velocity in mediolateral (ML) and anteroposterior (AP), and resultant velocity were calculated. Visual reliance (% modulation) was calculated using the percent change in COP values between EO and EC conditions. Participants performed a drop vertical jump and maintained balance to assess the dynamic postural stability index. A two-way analysis of variance (group and CAI status) and Bonferroni post hoc test were used to compare static balance, visual reliance, and dynamic balance.A main effect of CAI status was observed in COP area (p = 0.014) and COP AP velocity (p = 0.013) during static balance in the EO condition. We also observed CAI status main effect in COP area (p = 0.014), COP AP velocity (p = 0.010), and COP resultant velocity (p = 0.034), and a group main effect in COP ML velocity (p = 0.034) in EC condition. We found interactions between group and CAI status in the visual reliance of COP resultant velocity (p = 0.048), as well as significant group (p < 0.001) and CAI status effect (p = 0.006). However, there were no significant differences in dynamic postural control (p > 0.05).conditions compared to uninjured controls. However, dancers exhibited higher visual reliance than non-dancers, and CAI showed greater visual dependence than uninjured controls. This finding shows dancers use visual information differently, resulting in higher balance abilities.

    Keywords: balance, postural stability, Center of pressure, Visual Reliance, ankle injury, Drop vertical jump

    Received: 31 Dec 2024; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Hong, Kang, Jeon, Lee and Song. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Eun Ji Hong, Graduate School, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
    Sae Yong Lee, Yonsei University, Seoul, 03722, Seoul, Republic of Korea
    Kyeongtak Song, Yonsei University, Seoul, 03722, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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