Comparision of Ankle Joint Range of Motion on Balance Score in Healthy Young and Adult Individuals

Background and Introduction: Flexibility at the ankle joints provides an important contribution to safe execution of many functional tasks in our day to day activities like walking, negotiating stairs, rising from a chair and added efficiency in the maintenance of postural stability. Lack of mobility at ankle joint leads to inefficient balance and frequent falls. A number of studies have been performed for falls in elderly and analyzed the composition of sway in adults and ??healthy‘‘ elderly people. In this study comparison of ankle joint range of motion on balance score in healthy young and adult individuals is done. Method: 30 subjects were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Subjects were measured for active and passive ankle dorsiflexion and plantar flexion in high sitting position to measure range of motion at ankle joint. Then subjects went through Functional reach test and Timed up and go test and score was measured and noted. Results: Analysis of the relation between balance score and joint range of motion showed that ankle joint range of motion and balance are mutually dependent. Conclusion: The result of study shows that there is decrease in ankle joint range of motion with increasing age and thus affects balance also.