Effect of a Neoprene Sleeve on Knee Joint Position Sense During Sitting Open Kinetic Chain and Supine Closed Kinetic Chain Tests

Abstract

The primary objective of the present study was to compare the effect of a neoprene sleeve on knee joint position sense during a sitting open kinetic chain test and a supine closed kinetic chain test. Young (24 +/- 2 years old), healthy subjects (18 men and 18 women) performed knee joint angle replication tests during open kinetic chain knee extension (sitting) and closed kinetic chain leg press (supine with an axial load of 15% body weight) before and after application of a neoprene sleeve over the dominant knee. The improvement in ability to replicate joint angles after application of the sleeve (sleeve effect) was significantly less during the supine closed kinetic chain test (0.3 degree +/- 1.4 degrees) than during the sitting open kinetic chain test (1.2 degrees +/- 1.1 degrees). The sleeve effect was inversely related to subjects' performance without the sleeve during both the sitting open kinetic chain and supine closed kinetic chain tests, suggesting that some people may derive greater benefit from the sleeve than others. Although the sleeve effects were small, particularly during the supine closed kinetic chain test, 72% of subjects felt that the sleeve improved their overall test performance. Future research is needed to establish the functional relevance of the small sleeve effects observed and to identify the characteristics of people who might derive greatest benefit from sleeve use.

Scapular Bracing and Alteration of Posture and Muscle Activity in Overhead Athletes With Poor Posture

“…The mechanism behind this change appears to be a combination of mechanical alterations of the position of the shoulder girdle (tensioned straps) and enhanced proprioceptive feedback from the brace. Researchers [39][40][41] have demonstrated a consistent improvement in both active and passive joint repositioning sense with the application of compressive sleeves and garments similar to the compression shirt used in our study. They have proposed that proprioception can be enhanced markedly via the cutaneous feedback that compression garments provide.…”

Reliability and Precision of Hip Proprioception Methods in Healthy Individuals

“…The caveat of such an attachment may be that large areas of contact in 64 general may enhance proprioception consistent with the use of bracing. 8,9,41,87,88,129 The large pneumatic sleeve attached to the subject's leg may therefore have provided enough external stimuli to alter the subject's natural internal proprioception through cutaneous mechanoreceptor stimulation. This issue has been documented in the literature.…”

Effect of Knee Supports on Knee Joint Position Sense after Uphill and Downhill Walking. A Test Using a Hiking Simulation Method

“…The present study concerns trained young people who are supposed to have a good proprioceptive acuity. The effect of the knee supports might be even stronger for untrained, injured or aged people with lower proprioceptive acuity [14,16,17]. Moreover, the subjects walked on a treadmill with a constant inclination and an even ground and it should be accounted as a limitation when relating the results with a real hiking situation.…”

“…The construction of the knee support with the use of rigid side bars, the presence of a hole for the stabilization of the patella or compressive design might help joint stabilization and control [12,13]. The compression exerted at the joint might as well enhance proprioception [14,15]. Particularly the knee support effect on proprioception becomes more advantageous after exercise [16,17].…”