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Abstract Although an abundant number of studies have investigated the predictability of the commonly used functional screening tests and despite their popularity and applicability, the relationships between these tests have rarely been studied and have not been well established. This study aimed to examine the potential association between the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), Y Balance Test (YBT), and Landing Error Scoring System (LESS). Six hundred twenty-seven Iranian collegiate athletes (347 males, age = 22.63 ± 4.07, weight = 75.98 ± 13.79, height = 181.99 ± 10.15, BMI = 22.84 ± 3.16; and 280 females, age = 22.22 ± 3.37, weight = 60.63 ± 9.58, height = 166.55 ± 6.49, BMI = 21.81 ± 2.84) participated in this study. Following a 5-min warm-up, each participant underwent a standardized screening battery including the FMS, YBT, and LESS, and the scores were recorded and live coded for the statistical analysis, except for the LESS. The LESS tests were video recorded and scored by one expert examiner using an open-source 2D video analysis software (Kinovea- version 0.9.5), afterwards. The Spearman correlation was utilized as a measure for the correlation, and the Mann‒Whitney U test with a significance level of 0.05 was used to check the differences between male and female athletes. The statistical analysis was performed with RStudio 2023.03.0 using R 4.3.1. A small correlation (0.364) was observed between the FMS composite score and the YBT in male athletes. All other pairwise correlations were negligible among male and female athletes, ranging from − 0.096 to 0.294. Reducing the FMS to the component scores targeting the lower extremities did not alter the correlation to the other screening scores. The median FMS composite score in female athletes was significantly higher than that in males (p

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of virtual reality (VR) on the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the lower limb muscles during gait on the treadmill in the elderly.Materials and Methods: 12 elderly male subjects participated in this study voluntarily. Using an EMG-USB2+ multichannel system (Bioelettronica, Italy) (sampling frequency of 1000 Hz) and bipolar surface electrodes, the electrical activity of tibialis anterior (TA), rectus femoris (RF), and biceps femoris (BF) muscles were recorded bilaterally during walking with the preferred speed with and without VR environment on the treadmill. The maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) method was used for the normalization of signals. The gathered signals were processed using OT BioLab software with a bandpass filter of 10-350 Hz and a notch filter of 50 Hz. The data were processed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and paired sample t-test in SPSS software at a significance level of 0.050.Results: The findings showed that during walking in VR environment, the EMG activity of bilateral RF muscles and right TA muscle of the elderly subjects were significantly higher than normal walking with about 1.97 (P ≤ 0.005), 1.91 (P ≤ 0.003), and 2.03 (P ≤ 0.002) times, respectively. But the differences between EMG activity of right (P ≤ 0.280) and left (P ≤ 0.990) BF and left TA (P ≤ 0.080) muscles were not significant during walking with and without VR. Overall, VR had the main effect on the muscle activity of the elderly subjects (P ≤ 0.007). Moreover, there was a significant interaction between VR and muscle factors (P ≤ 0.036).Conclusion: The results indicated that VR increases the EMG activity of lower extremity muscles among the elderly, thus it can be recommended strongly in the rehabilitation of lower extremity muscles in the elderly.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of spontaneous play in nature on the fine motor skills and visual-motor integration of preschool children. Materials and Methods: In this semi-experimental research with pretest-posttest design, two groups were selected using convenient sampling method. Statistical sample of research consisted of 30 preschool children aged 4.5-6.5 years (15 from the Nature School and 15 from kindergarten). The fine motor skills and visual-motor integration were assessed using Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency and the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test, respectively. Results: MANOVA test showed that outdoor space activity had positive and significant effect on all of the variables of fine motor skills (P = 0.001) and visual-motor integration (P = 0.001) of children. While indoor space activity had a significant effect on visual-motor integrity (P = 0.013) and among the variables of fine motor skill, only on visual-motor control (P = 0.048). Outdoor and indoor spaces activity caused 71% and 13% changes in visual-motor control and 88% and 20% changes in visual-motor integrity in children, respectively. Conclusion: The type of environment which children play, have significant effect on their development. The natural environment is rich from stimulants, which has a remarkable effect on children’s development. Therefore, it is suggested that children have more activity in natural environment during their childhood to improve their motor and perceptual development.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between anthropometric characteristics and crawl and breaststroke performance in adolescent girl swimmers with an emphasis on ratio of length and width of limbs to the height of subjects. Methods: Twenty adolescent female swimmers voluntarily participated in this study. Anthropometric variables, including height , length of thigh, leg, foot, arm, forearm and hand , arm span, widths of pelvic, shoulders, knees, wrists and ankles were measured using a tape measure and caliper. Then the ratio of length and width of limbs to the height of subjects was calculated. Pearson correlation test at a significance level of 0.05 was used for statistical analysis. Results: Significant relationship were found between crawl record and subjects’ height, thigh, arm and forearm lengths, arm span, shoulder width, the ratios of arm, palm and foot length to the height and ratio of arm span to height (p

Objective: The effects of scoliotic deformity on the biomechanics of gait are not clear. The aim of this study was to compare the spatiotemporal variables during gait in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and healthy individuals. Methods: Eighteen healthy adolescent girls and 19 adolescent patients with idiopathic scoliosis that were matched for age, height, mass and BMI participated in this study. Using a Vicon motion analysis system (100 Hz), subjects’ gait were recorded and spatiotemporal variables including velocity, cadence, stride and step length, initial heel contact and toe off instants (% of gait cycle), duration of single and double supports, duration of the steps and strides of the right and left feet as well as the asymmetry indices (AI) for all variables were evaluated. ANOVA was run at a significance level of p0.05). Also, there were not any between group differences in asymmetry indices for all variables (p>0.05). Conclusion: spatiotemporal variables in right thoracic scoliotic patients were similar to healthy individuals; there for, it could be suggested that scoliosis does not affect the spatiotemporal variables. Other biomechanical parameters should be examined for etiology of scoliosis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between isokinetic relative torques of hip, knee and ankle joints and the height of guide leg jump in young men. Methods: 27 college male athletes with mean age of 25±3.5 years, height 178.5±7.8 cm and weight of 75.7±10.7 kg voluntarily participated in this study. Isokinetic torque of hip, knee and ankle joints and the height of vertical jump were measured using BIODEX SYSTEM PRO 4 and digital vertical jumping tester systems respectively. Pearson correlation test at p

Introduction: Previous studies on chronic low back pain (CLBP) have addressed the biomechanical performance of trunk, including its mobility, and the static balance performance in the related population. However, the onset of low back pain is commonly linked with dynamic activities and therefore, the evaluation of the balance performance in dynamic condition would be clinically important. The objectives of this study were to assess the dynamic postural control and its relationship with trunk mobility in chronic low back pain patients. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four female patients with chronic low back pain and 24 able-bodied females, all between 25 to 45 years old, voluntarily participated in this study. Dynamic postural control, lumbar mobility and back pain were measured by a Biodex system, Schober technique and Quebec questionnaire, respectively. Multivariate analysis of variance (repeated measure) and Pearson correlation coefficient were used for data analysis (α < 0.05). Results: Chronic low back pain patients had greater dynamic postural sway (P < 0.0001). In chronic low back pain, the function of lower limbs and the trunk’s proprioception were affected. This deficit was better observed in closed eyes condition. Lumbar mobility was significantly reduced in chronic low back pain group, However there was no significant relationship between the lumbar mobility and the postural control (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Chronic low back pain is associated with greater postural sway and reduced lumbar mobility. These variables are independent and should be considered in both detection and treatment process separately. More studies are sequined to determine if these parameters are primary or secondary