Comparison of The Acute Effects of Different Stretching Techniques on Ankle Joint Range of Motion In Healthy Older Adults: A Randomised Controlled Trial

It is planned to single-blind, randomized controlled study with before-after measurements. Considering the acute effects of stretching exercise for ankle dorsiflexion in older women, the effect size was calculated as 1.02. According to this effect size, it was planned to recruit 26 people to each group with 95% confidence level and 95% power, and 78 people in total would participate in the study. Ethics committee approval of the study was received from Dokuz Eylul University Non-Interventional Research Ethics Committee (with the decision number 2017/17-39 in the meeting dated 22.06.2017). The study was conducted under the Declaration of Helsinki standards. The participants were informed about the study by the physiotherapist and all the participants provided written informed consent to participate in the study. The study included healthy and voluntary older adults aged 65 and over who were able to walk without using an assistive device, independent in their daily life activities, and scored 23 and above according to the mini-mental state test in the study. The exclusion criteria of the study were the presence of a neurological, orthopedic or cardiovascular disease affecting the lower extremity, pain or limitation of movement in the ankle joint, skin diseases, history of falling in the last 1 year, any problem that may prevent lying prone and participation in a regular exercise program. Individuals meeting the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to one of two different groups with the help of the Random Numbers Table. The study was terminated when the target number of participants (n=78) was reached. Static stretching was applied to the first group (n=26), PNF stretching to the second group (n=26), and roller massage to the third group (n=26). Individuals meeting the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to one of two different groups with the help of the Random Numbers Table. The study was terminated when the target number of participants (n=78) was reached. Static stretching was applied to the first group (n=26), PNF stretching to the second group (n=26), and roller massage to the third group (n=26). (Figure 1) After the stretching method to be applied was determined randomly, the participants were asked to walk for 5 minutes in a 50-meter corridor. After warming up with this light-paced walking, applied one of the three methods. Immediately after the application, 10 minutes and 20 minutes after application, the range of motion of the ankle joint was measured in the weight-bearing lunge position.