Effect of Dynamic Taping on Landing Biomechanical Characteristics in Volleyball and Basketball Players With Symptoms of Patellar Tendinopathy

Patellar tendinopathy (PT) is an overuse injury associated with loading activities, and popular among basketball and volleyball players. Although altered biomechanical characteristics during landing has been suggested as one of the risk factors for the development of PT, previous evidence failed to show the link between the sagittal plane biomechanics of the hip and knee joint and PT; and little was known about the frontal and horizontal plane biomechanics in athletes with PT. While other factors such as motor control or muscle activation also have not been explored fully. The purpose of this study is to compare hip motor control and biomechanical characteristics of the hip and knee joint during landing in athletes with and without symptomatic PT.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Biomechanical Phenomena

Detailed Description

Background: Patellar tendinopathy is an overuse injury associated with loading activities, and it is thought to be caused by repetitive force applied to the patellar tendon. Patellar tendinopathy is popular among basketball and volleyball players, particularly in men. Although altered biomechanical characteristics during landing has been suggested as one of the risk factors for the development of patellar tendinopathy, previous evidence failed to show the link between the sagittal plane biomechanics of the hip and knee joint and patellar tendinopathy; and little was known about the frontal and horizontal plane biomechanics in athletes with patellar tendinopathy. Among those factors contributing to the biomechanical characteristics, hip and quadriceps strength were shown linked with the presence of patellar tendinopathy, while other factors such as motor control or muscle activation have not been explored fully. The purpose of this study is to compare hip motor control and biomechanical characteristics of the hip and knee joint during landing in athletes with and without symptomatic patellar tendinopathy. The investigators hypothesize that the athletes with symptomatic patellar tendinopathy have poorer motor control and different landing biomechanics as compared with asymptomatic athletes.

Method: the investigators plan to recruit seventeen symptomatic patellar tendinopathy athletes for the experimental group, using demographic data (sex, age, height, weight, exercise type) of experimental group to match seventeen non-symptomatic athletes as control group. The assessment included hip motor control in various directions, and measurement of kinetics, kinematics and muscle activation during the step-down task, drop vertical jump and countermovement jump using the computer-aided video motion analysis system (Vicon) and the surface EMG (Delsys). The group difference will be tested using Mann-Whitney U test for the score of motor control test battery, and MANOVA for the biomechanical characteristics. The significant level was set at 0.05.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 34

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Yi-Fen Shih, Ph.D; Phone Number: +886-2-28267340; Email: yfshih@nycu.edu.tw
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Chia-Yu Chen, B.S.; Phone Number: +886-922117406; Email: jolin151515878787@gmail.com

Study Locations

• Taiwan
  • Taipei, Taiwan, 11221
    • National Yang-Ming Chiao-Tung University
    • Contact: Yi-Fen Shih, Ph.D; Phone Number: +886-2-28267340; Email: yfshih@nycu.edu.tw
    • Contact: Chia-Yu Chen, B.S.; Phone Number: +886-922117406; Email: jolin151515878787@gmail.com

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 40 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

• 18 to 40 years old volleyball and basketball players
• Volleyball and basketball players with more than 2 years' training experience
• Volleyball and basketball players train over 90 minutes per week

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• at the age of 18 to 40 years old
• volleyball and basketball players have more than 2 years training experience
• over 90 minutes of training time per week symptomatic group:
• having patellar tendon pain during loading task last for 3 months
• VISA-P questionnaire score ≦80 asymptomatic group:
• without any lower extremity pain in past 3 months
• VISA-P questionnaire score >80

Exclusion Criteria:

• volleyball and basketball players joined the school team or professional level
• unbearable pain occurred at the patellar tendon when conducting landing tasks
• with a history of patellar tendon pain before
• there are currently other acute injuries to the lower extremity
• lower extremity has undergone surgery or fracture in the past
• with a history of rheumatoid arthritis, systematic and neurological diseases

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Case-Control
• Time Perspectives: Cross-Sectional

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
symptomatic group; Individuals with patellar tendon pain last for 3 months Individuals age between 18-40 years old Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment (VISA) Questionnaire score ≦80
asymptomatic group; Individuals without any lower extremity pain in past 3 months Individuals age between 18-40 years old Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment (VISA) Questionnaire score >80

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
lower extremities joint angle	hip joint flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, internal rotation, external rotation angle, knee joint flexion, extension angle	Immediately during the experiment
lower extremities joint angular velocity	hip joint flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, internal rotation, external rotation angle, knee joint flexion, extension angle divided by time	Immediately during the experiment
lower extremities joint angular acceleration	lower extremities joint angular velocity divided by time	Immediately during the experiment
ground reaction force	anterior, posterior, medial, lateral, vertical ground reaction force	Immediately during the experiment
lower extremities joint force	calculate the reaction force between segments	Immediately during the experiment
lower extremities joint moment	calculate the reaction moment between segments	Immediately during the experiment
lower extremities joint power	calculate the reaction moment between segments	Immediately during the experiment
time to peak ground reaction force	time period from initial contact to peak vertical ground reaction force	Immediately during the experiment
loading rate of ground reaction force	peak vertical ground reaction force divided by time to peak ground reaction force	Immediately during the experiment
net joint work	integral of joint power over time	Immediately during the experiment
patellar tendon force	knee joint moment divided by moment arm	Immediately during the experiment
Lower extremity muscles activation during landing task	The investigator will place surface electromyography (sEMG)(Delsys, USA) on subjects' bilateral gluteus maximum, gluteus medius, semitendinosus, biceps femoris, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis muscles to record muscles activities.	Immediately during the experiment
Hip joint motor control	The investigator will ask subject to do the hip flexion, hip internal rotation, hip abduction/external rotation and hip adduction control task.	pre-experiment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Lower extremities joint angle	Measuring bilateral ankle dorsiflexion range of motion by the physical therapist with goniometer.	pre-experiment
Lower extremities muscle force	The hip extensor, external rotator, abductor, knee extensor, flexor muscle force measured by the physical therapist with a hand-held dynamometer	pre-experiment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: National Yang Ming University
• Investigators: Study Director: Yi-Fen Shih, Ph.D, Department of Physical Therapy and Assistive Technology, National Yang-Ming Chiao-Tung University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 1, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 1, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): January 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 2, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 8, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): July 12, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 18, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 15, 2024
• Last Verified: March 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: EMG; biomechanics; muscle activation; landing; patellar tendinopathy; kinematics; volleyball; kinetics; basketball
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Wounds and Injuries; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Muscular Diseases; Tendon Injuries; Tendinopathy
• Other Study ID Numbers: YM109067F(2)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No