Bellew JW, Click-Fenter P, Chelette B, Moore R, Loreno D; Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA. jbelle@lsuhsc.edu.

PURPOSE: Weight-bearing proprioceptive activities are commonly used in clinical settings to improve motor reaction time and control of balance in older adults. The purpose of this study was to examine the initial effects of proprioceptive training exercises on the time required to reach peak ankle plantar- and dorsiflexor torque in active, healthy older women. SUBJECTS: Subjects were eleven women (75.6 ± 6.4 years) who participated in proprioceptive training and ten women (71.2 ± 9.1 years) who did not participate in training and served as controls. All subjects were healthy, without orthopedic or neuromuscular pathology and participated in bi-weekly stretching, yoga, and/or water aerobics classes. None had a history of falling. METHODS: Time-to-peak-torque was examined during ankle plantar- and dorsiflexion using an isokinetic dynamometer at an angular velocity of 60 degrees per second. Supervised proprioceptive training was performed two times per week for five weeks. For all exercises, subjects stood bilaterally upon semi-compressible 13"x6" foam rollers placed under each foot which permitted simultaneous rocking motions in the sagittal plane (plantar-/dorsiflexion) and frontal plane (ankle inversion/eversion). The training protocol involved alternating one minute periods of ankle plantar-/dorsiflexion and supination/pronation while standing on the foam rollers. Each session lasted less 15 minutes and all subjects completed 10 bi-weekly sessions over 5 weeks. ANALYSES: Means and standard deviations for subject demographics and time-to-peak-torque were calculated by conventional means using SPSS (v10.1). Changes in time-to-peak-torque during ankle plantar- or dorsiflexion were examined using a 2 x 2 (time x group) analysis of variance to assess between- and within-group differences. RESULTS: Prior to training, there were no significant differences between the groups for age, height, weight, or the intensity, total time, or energy expenditure of their physical activity level. Following the training period, the exercise group failed to show a significant improvement in time to peak torque for either ankle plantar-flexion (F = 0.411, p = 0.529) or dorsi-flexion (F = 0.024, p = 0.829). CONCLUSIONS: Ten sessions of ankle proprioceptive training exercises have no significant effect on time to peak ankle plantar- or dorsiflexion torque. FUNDING SOURCE: None.

Copyright 2004 by the American Physical Therapy Association

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