Comparison of standing balance between female collegiate dancers and soccer players.

STUDY DESIGN: This study was designed as a comparison study of two cohorts. OBJECTIVES: The hypothesis of this study was that soccer players and dancers have different balance abilities and that these differences could be objectively measured using center of pressure measurements. BACKGROUND: Center of pressure (COP) measurements are reproducible and have been validated in the literature for assessing standing balance. The literature does not provide sensitive enough techniques for discriminating between two groups of athletes with excellent standing balance. METHODS AND MEASURES: A Matscan pressure mat (Tekscan, Boston, MA) was used to compare COP change variability between 32 female collegiate soccer players and 32 dancers. COP was used to calculate sway index, center acquisition time, sway path length and sway velocity as measures of standing balance. RESULTS: The dancers had significantly better balance scores (p<0.05) in 5 of 20 balance tests. Results for the remaining 15 balance tests were not significantly different. CONCLUSION: These data show that standing balance characteristics of dancers and soccer players can be objectively measured using COP data. Dancers have certain standing balance abilities that are better than those of soccer players. The COP measurements in this study can be used as a tool in future studies investigating standing balance in different groups of athletes.

Patellofemoral pain syndrome: evaluation of location and intensity of pain.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the sites and intensity of pain in patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome. METHOD: A prospective cohort study was conducted at an academic sports medicine practice in Boston, Massachusetts. All patients met inclusion criteria and were enrolled and evaluated during the study time frame. A single sports medicine orthopaedic surgeon examined a consecutive sample of patients with patellofemoral pain not explained by one of several well-defined anterior knee pain diagnoses. The study group consisted of 100 patients (75 females, 25 males) with median age of 14 years. Eleven discrete locations were palpated for tenderness. Hamstring tightness was evaluated by measuring the popliteal angle. Patients reported intensity of pain using a 0- to 9-point ordinal scale. Regression and nonparametric statistical methods were used. RESULTS: The most common site of pain was the patella during anterior-posterior compression (90 patients), followed by the distal pole of the patella, the medial plica, and the nonarticular medial femoral condyle. Median "worst pain" intensity was 6 out of a possible 9. The most common site of "worst pain" was also the patella in compression (63 patients). Median duration of symptoms was 10 months, with an interquartile range of 3 to 20 months. Pain intensity was inversely correlated with duration of symptoms (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In these patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome, the major source of pain was the patella subchondral bone.