Relationship Between Gluteus Medius Muscle Strength, Balance and Jumping Performance in Professional Female Handball Players

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Background Balance and jumping mechanisms are important to prevent injuries in sports such as handball, which require immediately change of direction, jumping and landing strategy. Strong proximal stability is required for accurate jump performance and stability. Objective To investigate the relationship between gluteus medius strength and static, dynamic balance, horizontal and vertical jump performance. Design Prospective field trial study. Setting: Elite women handball players in Turkish Handball Super League. Patients (or Participants): Forty-two elite women handball players from Turkish Handball Super League were included in this study. Interventions (or assessment of risk factors) The Lafayette Hand-Held Dynamometer was used to determine the strength of the gluteus medius. Single leg hop (SLH) test was used for horizontal jump and Lafayette Vertimetric device was used for vertical jump (VJ) evaluation. Y Balance Test (YBT) was used for the dynamic balance with direction of anterior, posteriomedial, posteriolateral and Standing Stork Test (SST) with eyes closed for the measurement of static balance. Main outcome measurements Gluteus medius strength with hand dynamometer compared with YBT, SST, VJ and SLH tests.

Official Title
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Relationship Between Gluteus Medius Muscle Strength, Balance and Jumping Performance in Professional Female Handball Players

Conditions
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Gluteus Medius Muscle Strength, Handball Players, Balance, Jumping Performance

Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: age between 18-40 years, playing Handball at least for 5 year as a professional player currently free of any lower limb injuries within the last three months no previous history of injury or surgery that may affect their lower limbs. Exclusion Criteria: having lower limb injury for more than 1 month; having a history of surgery, or chronic and progressive disease in their lower limb having scoliosis or any other orthopaedic or neurological problems

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 40 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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Female

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Muscle strength<br>GMed strength was assessed with the use of a Lafayette Manual Muscle Tester (Lafayette Instruments; Lafayette, Indiana, USA). | |
| Horizontal Jumping Performance<br>Lower extremity horizontal jumping was measured using the single leg hop (SLH) test as previously described | |
| Vertical Jumping Performance<br>To measure the single-leg vertical jump (SLVJ), the participants stood on the ground with their foot flat distributing their weight evenly on both feet. | |
| Dynamic Balance<br>The Y-Balance Test (YBT) was used to dynamic balance | |
| Static Balance<br>The Stork balance test (SBT) was used to measure static balance performance | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Muscle strength | GMed strength was assessed with the use of a Lafayette Manual Muscle Tester (Lafayette Instruments; Lafayette, Indiana, USA). | 2 weeks | 
| Horizontal Jumping Performance | Lower extremity horizontal jumping was measured using the single leg hop (SLH) test as previously described | 2 weeks | 
| Vertical Jumping Performance | To measure the single-leg vertical jump (SLVJ), the participants stood on the ground with their foot flat distributing their weight evenly on both feet. | 2 weeks | 
| Dynamic Balance | The Y-Balance Test (YBT) was used to dynamic balance | 2 weeks | 
| Static Balance | The Stork balance test (SBT) was used to measure static balance performance | 2 weeks |