Progressive Visual Occlusion and Postural Control Responses in Individuals With and Without Chronic Ankle Instability

Context: Prophylactic and rehabilitative balance training is needed to maximize postural control and develop appropriate sensory organization strategies. Partially occluding vision during functional exercise may promote appropriate sensory organization strategies, but little is known about the influence of partially occluded vision on postural control in those with and without a history of musculoskeletal injury. Objective: To determine the effect of increasing levels of visual occlusion on postural control in a heterogeneous sample of those with and without chronic ankle instability (CAI). The secondary objective was to explore postural control responses to increasing levels of visual occlusion among those with unilateral and bilateral CAI relative to uninjured controls. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Sports medicine research laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: Twenty-five participants with unilateral CAI, 10 with bilateral CAI, and 16 participants with no history of lower extremity injury. Main Outcome Measures: All participants completed four 3-minute postural control assessments in double-limb stance under the following 4 visual conditions: (1) eyes open, (2) low occlusion, (3) high occlusion, and (4) eyes closed. Low- and high-occlusion conditions were produced using stroboscopic eyewear. Postural control outcomes included time-to-boundary minima means in the anteroposterior (TTB-AP) and mediolateral directions (TTB-ML). Repeated-measures analysis of variances tested the effects of visual condition on TTB-AP and TTB-ML. Results: Postural control under the eyes-open condition was significantly better (ie, higher) than the limited visual occlusion and eyes-closed conditions (P < .001) for TTB-AP and TTB-ML. For TTB-AP only, partially occluded vision resulted in better postural control than the eyes-closed condition (P <= .003). Conclusions: Partial and complete visual occlusion impaired postural control during dual-limb stance in a heterogeneous sample of those with and without CAI. Stroboscopic eyewear appears to induce postural control impairments to the same extent as complete visual occlusion in the mediolateral direction.