Assessment of Dysfunctional Movements and Asymmetries in Children and Adolescents Using the Functional Movement Screen—A Narrative Review

Abstract

The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is a screening tool that identifies dysfunctional movements in seven test items requiring an interplay of cognitive, perceptual, proprioceptive, and motor functions that involve muscular strength/endurance, flexibility, mobility, coordination, and balance. The results of the FMS include an overall composite score, scores on the individual test items, and identification of compensatory movement patterns and left-right asymmetries on 5 bilateral test items. Although there is a plethora of literature on the use of the FMS in adults, there is a growing body of evidence indicating its use in children. The available research in children involves school children and young athletes in at least 20 different sports in over 20 countries and comparisons between pre- and post-pubescent children, and normal weight, overweight, and obese children. Studies that include measures of adiposity and physical activity levels, or report prevalence of asymmetries and dysfunctional movement patterns are not well represented in the children’s literature. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the currently available literature in children and suggest potential uses of the FMS by coaches, physical educators, and other health/fitness professionals, appropriate interpretation of results, and future research in children.

Effects of Yoga Intervention on Functional Movement Patterns and Mindfulness in Collegiate Athletes: A Quasi-Experimental Study

“…Considering the importance of reporting the prevalence of asymmetrical and dysfunctional scores among adolescents [ 41 ], we analyzed the ratio of asymmetric and individual item scores of 1 point or less. The result showed that two groups had high asymmetric prevalence in the five separate items.…”

Performance and bilateral asymmetries of upper and lower extremity dynamic strength and balance in young soccer players

“…Girls performed better on the deep squat and the active straight leg raise. In a group of elite junior athletes 16 to 20 years of age, there were no sex differences in any of the individual functional screen test items [13]. There were several possible explanations for sex differences in performance observed in some studies, such as physiological and biomechanical (muscle performance and movement control patterns), anatomical (differences in joint architecture and mobility), and sociocultural (differences in participation in activity and sport) factors.…”

“…Both Intrinsic and extrinsic factors could explain the differences in performance between males and females. Intrinsic factors include but are not limited to skeletal activation, neuromuscular control levels, motor control strategy, and tness level [6, 13,21]. External factors such as maturation and tness level are also relative to performance differences in sex [20].…”

“…Assessment of physical capacity (i.e., strength, jumping, landing, power, balance, range of motion, etc.) is frequently performed and ranges widely in sports [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Then, an individual athlete pro le could be established and used as a reference to return to play after injury or optimize the training program [6,11,12].…”

“…However, there are no consistent outcomes in sex and age differences in movement patterns in young athletes. Boys have more challenges in movement patterns that involve mobility and exibility, and girls may not perform as well as boys in movements that require upper body strength and core stabilization [6,13]. For example, in a group of 10-to 17-year-old youth, boys performed better on the trunk stability push-up, inline lungs, and rotary stability tests, and an older (14-18 years of age) group of boys performed better on the trunk stability push-up test and the inline lunge [13].…”