Clinician Recommendations and Perceptions of Factors Associated With Ankle Brace Use

Background: Little information is available regarding the ankle braces orthopaedic sports medicine clinicians recommend or clinicians' concerns that may influence their decisions to recommend use of an ankle brace.

Hypotheses: (1) Clinicians most frequently recommend lace-up braces with straps. (2) Clinicians who are concerned about potential adverse side effects from ankle brace use are less likely to recommend an ankle brace to prevent ankle sprain injuries.

Study design: Descriptive survey study.

Level of evidence: Level 3.

Methods: Surveys were sent via e-mail to 1000 randomly selected members of the Orthopaedic Section of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and 1000 randomly selected members of the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA). A total of 377 individuals responded to the survey.

Results: Lace-up braces, specifically lace-up braces with straps, were the most frequently recommended type of ankle brace. Regression analyses indicated that the only perceived adverse side effect significantly related to frequency of ankle brace recommendation was a potential negative influence on ankle strength.

Conclusion: Based on our sample, clinicians recommend lace-up ankle braces with straps most frequently to prevent ankle sprain injuries. Clinicians who are concerned about weakness of ankle musculature may be less likely to recommend use of an ankle brace.

Clinical relevance: Clinicians may effectively reduce the number of ankle sprain injuries by recommending an ankle brace use after an initial ankle sprain injury.