The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of knee joint interventions on lower extremity biomechanical variables during single-leg drop landing. Sixteen healthy male university students majoring in physical education with no history of lower extremity injury participated in this study. Knee joint conditions were classified into three types: knee brace(Type A), normal(Type B), and knee taping(Type C). Participants performed single-leg drop landing from a 45 cm box under each condition. Repeated measures analysis of variance(ANOVA) was conducted to examine differences among conditions, and post hoc comparisons were performed using the Bonferroni method when significant effects were found(p < .05). The results showed that, at the ankle joint, significant differences were observed in peak dorsiflexion angle and range of motion(ROM) during the landing phase depending on the knee intervention condition. Specifically, the knee brace condition demonstrated greater ankle dorsiflexion ROM compared with the normal and taping conditions. At the knee joint, significant differences were found in knee flexion angle at maximum knee flexion(MKF) and in knee joint ROM during the landing phase. Post hoc analysis revealed that knee joint ROM was smaller in the taping condition compared with the normal condition, whereas relatively larger ROM was observed in the knee brace condition. In addition, peak ankle dorsiflexion moment differed significantly among conditions, with the greatest value observed in the normal condition. In conclusion, knee joint interventions influence ankle joint motion and dorsiflexion moment, as well as knee joint motion at maximum knee flexion and joint range of motion during single-leg drop landing. These findings suggest that knee joint interventions may alter lower extremity landing mechanics during deceleration tasks.
Seong-Yeol Lee (Thu,) studied this question.