Neurocognitive challenged hops reduced functional performance relative to traditional hop testing.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Determine the relationship between four foundational single-leg hop tests and respective neurocognitive single-leg hop tests. DESIGN: Cross-sectional; SETTING: University gymnasium. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-two participants (9 Male, 13 Female, 20.9 ± 2.5 years, 171.2 ± 11.7 cm, 70.3 ± 11.0 kg) were recruited. Maximum distance was measured for three hop tests (single-leg hop, single-leg crossover hop, single-leg triple hop) and fastest time was measured for the fourth (single-leg 6-m hop) for traditional and neurocognitive conditions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pearson correlations were conducted to assess the relationship between the new neurocognitive hop and the analogous traditional hop. One repeated measures MANOVA was conducted for each leg to determine the difference in hop performance between hop conditions (traditional and neurocognitive) for the dependent variables. Alpha level was set at α < 0.05. RESULTS: Correlations ranged from 0.86 to 0.92 between traditional and neurocognitive hop tests. The repeated measures MANOVA was significant for condition for both legs (p < 0.05). Specifically, the crossover hop (average percent decrease 10.37%), triple hop (average percent decrease 7.13%), and 6-m hop (average percent decrease 81.67%) were statistically different between traditional and neurocognitive conditions (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The addition of neurocognitive reactive and anticipatory components to simulate more sport specific scenarios may improve functional testing for return to sport.