Postural Control during Progressively Increased Balance-Task Difficulty in Athletes with Unilateral Transfemoral Amputation: Effect of Ocular Mobility and Visuomotor Processing

Abstract

This study examined postural control during single leg stance test with progressively increased balance-task difficulty in soccer players with unilateral transfemoral amputation (n = 11) compared to able-bodied soccer players (n = 11). The overall stability index (OSI), the anterior/posterior stability index, and the medial/lateral stability index during three balance tasks with increasing surface instability were estimated. The oculomotor and visuomotor contribution to postural control in disabled athletes was analyzed. Oculomotor function, simple and choice reaction times, and peripheral perception were assessed in a series of visuomotor tests. The variation in OSI demonstrated significantly greater increases during postural tests with increased balance-task difficulty in the able-bodied soccer players compared to amputees (F(2,40) = 3.336, p < 0.05). Ocular mobility index correlated (p < 0.05) with OSI in conditions of increasing balance-task difficulty. Moreover, speed of eye-foot reaction has positive influence (p < 0.05) on stability indexes in tasks with an unstable surface. Amputee soccer players displayed comparable postural stability to able-bodied soccer players. Disabled athletes had better adaptability in restoring a state of balance in conditions of increased balance-task difficulty than the controls. The speed of visuomotor processing, characterized mainly by speed of eye-foot reaction, significantly contributed to these results.

Sports Performance Tests for Amputee Football Players: A Scoping Review

“…Although all the identified tests had a description of the procedure, only 28% of them met the standardization criteria. Sports performance tests that had complete instructions (subject preparation, environment, methodology, number of repetition, intervals, outcomes) were the T-square test, modified Thomas test, sit-and-reach test, vertical jump test, static balance test, and dynamic balance test [ 3 , 9 , 12 , 16 , 20 ]; 8 tests lacked information about participants’ preparation, 9 tests lacked information about the warm-up, 16 tests lacked information about the number of test repetitions, and 6 tests lacked information about intervals between test attempts. The qualitative assessment of sports performance tests is presented in Table 3 .…”

“…In total, 10 out of 12 articles met eligibility criteria and were from the past 10 years; 50% of the studies had a study group and a control group. Participants were AF players aged 24–32 years from local [ 2 , 9 , 12 , 15 ] or national teams [ 3 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. Training experience ranged from two months to eight or more years.…”

“…In the results section, two articles met the requirements of item 13 (participants), eight articles met the requirements of item 14 (descriptive data), six articles met the requirements of item 15 (outcome data), three articles met the requirements of item 16 (main results), and six articles met requirements of item 17 (other analysis). In summary, in four studies, the key results concerning the study objectives were presented in the discussion section [ 3 , 14 , 15 , 20 ]. The items on limitations, interpretation, and generalizability were met by most of the included studies.…”

“…This renders them easily repeatable and, thus, helpful for both researchers and coaches. When analyzed in detail, 8 of the 29 test descriptions met all standardization criteria (T-square test, modified Thomas test, sit-and-reach test, vertical jump test, static balance test, and dynamic balance test [ 3 , 9 , 12 , 16 , 20 ]). For a test such as the YYIRT1, the only information about the number of repetitions of the test performed was missing, but we believe that this information is not necessary in this case because this type of aerobic capacity test is usually performed only once due to the maximal stimulation of the aerobic system, after which a long recovery is necessary [ 25 ].…”

“…In the literature, many different sports performance tests have been reported [ 2 , 3 , 9 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. Moreover, by reviewing the literature and observing the various nomenclature of motor abilities used and the different descriptions of the same tests, we decided to organize the sports performance tests for assessing the motor performance of amputee football players to make them transparent and understandable for researchers in the field, coaches, and people interested in this type of sport.…”