Review links proprioceptive training to fewer ankle injuries in athletes
A review of 15 controlled trials reported that proprioceptive training was associated with about 34% lower relative ankle-injury occurrence in athletes, while noting that optimal program design and generalizability remain uncertain.
A systematic review and meta-analysis published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders on October 28 found proprioceptive training was associated with an approximately 34% lower relative occurrence of ankle injury among athletes than control conditions. The review included 15 randomized or cluster-randomized controlled trials.1
The pooled relative effect was 0.659, and the authors rated the overall certainty of evidence as moderate.1
The authors said the findings supported proprioceptive training as part of ankle-injury prevention, but optimal training characteristics and generalizability across sports, competition levels and athlete populations require further investigation.1
