RESUMO
Study of ground reaction force characteristics during walking is an important descriptor factor in gait pathology. With regard to this subject, the purpose of this study was to compare the vertical ground reaction force during forward and backward walking in athlete's ankle sprain. The present study was semi-experimental, in which thirteen athletes with ankle sprain and eleven healthy athletes were participated. All participants performed three trials of walking in forward and backward directions. By using two force plates, ground reaction force was measured on a vertical axis and normalized with body weight. The mean and standard deviation of the data were measured to describe data and two-way ANOVA test was used to analyze the value of between the groups. Findings showed significant differences of the produced ground reaction force in a vertical direction in first and second peak during forward and backward walking. However, in comparison between groups, there were no significant differences between damaged and healthy athletes. This study shows that the ankle sprain injuries on the ground reaction force generated during walking toward the forward and backward has no effect, rather the differences between the healthy and affected groups are related to specific patterns of walking for each subject