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. 1993 Winter;28(4):336, 338, 340, 342, 344.

Muscular and Functional Performance Characteristics of Individuals Wearing Prophylactic Knee Braces

Paul A Borsa 1,2,3, Scott M Lephart 1,2,3, Freddie H Fu 1,2,3
PMCID: PMC1317738  PMID: 16558250

Abstract

The efficacy of prophylactic knee bracing has been refuted with regard to reducing the incidence and/or severity of injuries to the knee joint. This is thought to be a result of the prophylactic knee brace's ineffectiveness in protecting the knee joint from valgus loads. Furthermore, discrepancies exist regarding the prophylactic knee brace's detrimental effect on functional performance. The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of the prophylactic knee brace on selected isokinetic muscular characteristics and forward sprint speed. Twenty physically active, healthy, male college students with no prior history of brace use participated in this study. The subjects were randomly tested both with and without the prophylactic knee brace worn on various performance parameters. The dependent measures assessed included peak torque (PT) and torque acceleration energy (TAE) at 60 and 240°/s. A 40-yard forward sprint was selected to assess sprint speed. A paired t-test analysis revealed mean values which were significantly less for PT at 60°/s (p < .05), 240°/s (p < .01), and TAE at 240°/s (p < .05) with the prophylactic knee brace applied during knee extension. Analysis also revealed slower times for sprint speed (p < .01), while the subjects were wearing the prophylactic knee brace. Muscular strength (PT) and power (TAE) scores were not correlated (p > .05) with sprint speed. This study suggests that wearing the prophylactic knee brace may consequently inhibit muscular and functional performance of the athlete, but that specific population has yet to be studied.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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