Balance and joint stability: The relative contributions of proprioception and muscular strength

Objectives: To determine whether proprioception or muscular strength is the dominant factor in balance and joint stability and define what type of ankle rehabilitation is most effective for these purposes. Setting: The University of North Carolina Sports Medicine Research Laboratory. Subjects: Thirty-two healthy volunteers free of head injury, dominant leg injury, and vestibular deficits. Design: Subjects were divided into control, strength-training, proprioceptive-training, and strength-proprioception combination training groups. Balance was assessed before and after 6-week training programs. Measurements: Static, semidynamic, and dynamic balance were assessed. Results Subjects showed no improvement for static balance but improved significantly for semidynamic (P = .038) and dynamic (P = .002) balance. No significant differences were observed between groups. Conclusions: Enhancement of proprioception and muscular strength are equally effective in promoting joint stability and balance maintenance. In addition, no 1 type of training program is superior to another for these purposes.