The Relationship Between Lower Extremity Range of Motion, Balance, and Single-leg Hop with Prior Incidence and Occurrence of Shin Splints in Collegiate Runners

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Shin splints have become a routine diagnosis handed out by medical professionals as a way of generalizing pain in the lower leg. This injury is especially common in the sport of track and field accounting for over half of all overuse injuries in the leg. Despite its prevalence, the exact cause of the pain is unknown and little concrete information concerning its pathology exists in the literature. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between lower extremity range of motion (ROM), single-leg (SL) balance, and SL hop measures with the prior and current incidences of shin splints. Fifty-three healthy collegiate runners completed preseason testing for ankle dorsiflexion ROM, Y-balance test (YBT) anterior reach, SL balance on a force plate, and SL hop while forty-four of the initial athletes completed the postseason injury development questionnaire. Initial chi-square analyses revealed females previously experienced significantly more incidence of shin splints when compared to males (p = .03). Independent t-tests revealed significant differences between gender on all SL balance measures recorded, as males performed better on all recorded measures (p<.0001 - p<.003). Postseason regression analyses revealed athletes with a previous shin splint diagnosis had a 17.3x higher odds of developing a shin splint diagnosis during the season (p = .001). No significant differences were noted in dorsiflexion ROM, Y-balance anterior reach, SL balance, or SL hop measures between healthy participants and those diagnosed with shin splints. These results indicate a relationship between gender, SL balance, and previous injury with the development of shin splints. Understanding these relationships can help coaches identify athletes who are more likely to develop medial tibial pain and modify training programs accordingly to improve SL balance performance.