Leg Dominance-Surface Stability Interaction: Effects on Postural Control Assessed by Smartphone-Based Accelerometry

• Main Authors: Arunee Promsri (Author), Kotchakorn Bangkomdet (Author), Issariya Jindatham (Author), Thananya Jenchang (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: MDPI AG, 2023-03-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.3390/sports11040075; 2075-4663
• Keywords: neuromuscular control; injury prevention; laterality; unstable surface; sample entropy; Sports; GV557-1198.995
• Source: Sports, Vol 11, Iss 4, p 75 (2023)

The preferential use of one leg over another in performing lower-limb motor tasks (i.e., leg dominance) is considered to be one of the internal risk factors for sports-related lower-limb injuries. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of leg dominance on postural control during unipedal balancing on three different support surfaces with increasing levels of instability: a firm surface, a foam pad, and a multiaxial balance board. In addition, the interaction effect between leg dominance and surface stability was also tested. To this end, a tri-axial accelerometer-based smartphone sensor was placed over the lumbar spine (L5) of 22 young adults (21.5 ± 0.6 years) to record postural accelerations. Sample entropy (SampEn) was applied to acceleration data as a measure of postural sway regularity (i.e., postural control complexity). The results show that leg dominance (<i>p</i> < 0.001) and interaction (<i>p</i> < 0.001) effects emerge in all acceleration directions. Specifically, balancing on the dominant (kicking) leg shows more irregular postural acceleration fluctuations (high SampEn), reflecting a higher postural control efficiency or automaticity than balancing on the non-dominant leg. However, the interaction effects suggest that unipedal balancing training on unstable surfaces is recommended to reduce interlimb differences in neuromuscular control for injury prevention and rehabilitation.