VAF should be considered in the rehabilitation of lower extremity musculoskeletal dysfunctions .
However , it can not be unequivocally confirmed that VAF is effective in this population , owing to study heterogeneity and a lack of high- quality evidence .
Nevertheless , positive effects on lower extremity biomechanics and postural control have been identified .
BACKGROUND Verbal augmented feedback ( VAF ) is commonly used in physiotherapy rehabilitation of individuals with lower extremity musculoskeletal dysfunction or to induce motor learning for injury prevention .
Its effectiveness for acquisition , retention and transfer of learning of new skills in this population is unknown .
OBJECTIVES First , to investigate the effect of VAF for rehabilitation and prevention of lower extremity musculoskeletal dysfunction .
Second , to determine its effect on motor learning and the stages of acquisition , retention and transfer in this population .
Effect of focus of attention on transfer of a postural control task following an ankle sprain.
STUDY DESIGN R and omized clinical trial . OBJECTIVE To examine the effect of attentional focus instructions during training on the transfer of a learned balance capability to a more challenging condition among subjects with ankle ligament injury . BACKGROUND Current evidence suggests that instructions inducing an external focus of attention may be more effective at promoting learning than instructions inducing an internal focus of attention . The effect of attentional direction on transfer has not been tested in population s following a disease or injury , such as lateral ankle sprain , in which postural control is impaired . METHODS AND MEASURES Participants were 36 male volunteers ( mean age , 20.9 years ; range , 19 - 33 years ) who were referred to physical therapy following a grade 1 or 2 ankle sprain . The patients were r and omly allocated to 1 of 2 groups , which were instructed to focus attention either internally or externally during postural control training . Three training sessions were conducted on consecutive days and consisted of ten 20-second trials at 2 stability levels , using the Biodex Stability System . Postural control at an untrained , less stable level was assessed before the initial training session and 48 hours following the last session using the Biodex Stability System . Three measures of stability were used : ( 1 ) overall stability , as indicated by the variance in platform displacement in all directions , ( 2 ) anterior/posterior variance of platform displacement , and ( 3 ) medial/lateral variance of platform displacement . RESULTS Participants utilizing an external focus of attention improved significantly over the study period in all 3 stability indices , while those utilizing internal focus of attention did not improve significantly . CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that an external focus of attention is advantageous for the transfer of learning of a postural control task following an ankle injury . Furthermore , they indicate that using an external focus of attention when training under moderately unstable conditions can significantly improve postural control under less stable conditions
VAF should be considered in the rehabilitation of lower extremity musculoskeletal dysfunctions .
However , it can not be unequivocally confirmed that VAF is effective in this population , owing to study heterogeneity and a lack of high- quality evidence .
Nevertheless , positive effects on lower extremity biomechanics and postural control have been identified .
BACKGROUND Verbal augmented feedback ( VAF ) is commonly used in physiotherapy rehabilitation of individuals with lower extremity musculoskeletal dysfunction or to induce motor learning for injury prevention .
Its effectiveness for acquisition , retention and transfer of learning of new skills in this population is unknown .
OBJECTIVES First , to investigate the effect of VAF for rehabilitation and prevention of lower extremity musculoskeletal dysfunction .
Second , to determine its effect on motor learning and the stages of acquisition , retention and transfer in this population .