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ANALYSIS OF ACL STABILITY IN COLLEGE AGED FEMALES

Abstract

PURPOSE: Females have a higher incident of knee injury. The purpose of this study is to assess the differences in the knee strength in athletes compared to non-athletes. It was hypothesized that there would be a difference between the athletes and non-athletes regarding the amount of force they use as they go through the jumping motion. The goal was to see if non-athletes were at a greater risk for having anterior cruciate ligament injuries when compared to athletes. METHODS: Female athletes and non-athletes that were recruited for the study. It was on a volunteer basis, and twelve subjects were split into two groups. Each volunteer went to the exercise science lab and consented to participate in this study. They also provided basic information about their demographics. They were asked to step on the force plates where they began the assessment. During the assessment, a tablet was used to give them specific directions on when to start each jump. The entire process only took about ten minutes in total. RESULTS: The data collected revealed a statistical difference between the athletes and non-athletes. The focus was originally on peak power and peak force, but there ended up being no statistical difference. The deceleration RFD asymmetry percentage was 10.14 ± 3.69 for the athletes. The deceleration RFD asymmetry percentage was 30.50 ± 5.01 for the non-athletes. This means there was more asymmetry in non-athletes in how they landed, and there was statistical difference between the two groups with an average difference of -20.36%. CONCLUSION: The athletes and non-athletes had a lot of overlap in their results, but there was a difference in their deceleration asymmetry rates. The athletes’ right and left feet landed about the same time, which means the deceleration asymmetry rate is significantly lower than non-athletes. In non-athletes, the deceleration asymmetry rate is significantly higher than the athletes. This shows that the non-athletes may be more predisposed to an anterior cruciate ligament injury, because they have not trained in proper form. If anyone continues to land using poor form or technique, they increase their risk of potential knee injury.

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