ABSTRACT
Objective To compare the effects of hip abductor fatigue on postural stability and neuromuscular control in different gender groups during single-leg side-jump landing. Methods Twenty male and twenty female adults were required to execute single-leg side-jump landing before and after hip abductor fatigue protocol. The center of pressure (COP), ground reaction force (GRF), lower extremity kinematics, joint moment, muscle activity were compared. Results For both males and females after fatigue, the maximum displacements and average velocities of COP decreased, and the peak angles of hip abduction and ankle eversion increased, and the peak torques of ankle inversion increased. At 200 ms pre-landing, the activiation of rectus femoris, biceps femoris, tibialis anterior, peroneus longus were lower in male than that in female. At 200 ms post-landing, the activiation of biceps femoris in male was lower than that in female after fatigue. Conclusions The postural stability in frontal plane decreased after hip abductor fatigue. The frontal plane control of hip joint and ankle joint was weakened, which might increase the risk of joint injury. There are differences in postural strategies for different genders, indicating that gender difference in the mechanism of lower limb joint injury is worth of further investigation.