The Cut-Off Score of Four Clinical Tests to Quantify Balance Impairment in Individuals with Chronic Ankle Instability

Background: Balance impairment is a common consequence of chronic ankle instability (CAI). This study aimed to assess the discriminative validity of four clinical tests for quantifying balance impairment in individuals with CAI.

Methods: Participants were screened for their balance using the single-leg balance test (SLBT) and were assigned to either the positive or the negative SLBT groups. Fifty-four individuals with CAI (N = 27 per group) were recruited and completed four clinical tests including the foot-lift test (FLT), the time-in-balance test (TIBT), the modified star excursion balance test in the posteromedial (mSEBT-PM) direction and the side-hop test (SHT). The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve coupled with Youden index were calculated to determine the optimal cut-off scores of each test.

Results: We found significant differences in balance between groups for all tests, with good to excellent values for the area under the ROC curve (AUC). All four tests reached good to excellent sensitivity and specificity values and had significant cut-off scores to discriminate balance performance among CAI participants.

Conclusion: All four clinical tests can be conducted with their respective cut-off scores to quantify balance impairment in individuals with CAI.