(65) GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PERFORMING CONSTRAINED AND UNCONSTRAINED UPPER QUARTER Y-BALANCE TESTS

There are several internal and external risk factors that affect upper body functions. The Upper Quarter Y-Balance Test (UQYBT) is a functional mobility test that evaluates unilateral upper body function. It serves as part of sport physical examinations identifying risk factors for injury or poor performance. Previous studies established the reliability of the UQYBT as an instrument to assess shoulder girdle function and indirectly thoracic mobility. Yet, it is not clear the contribution of thoracic rotation range of motion (ROM) and upper body strength to the performance in constrained and unconstrained UQYBT within gender.

Purpose: To investigate the relation between trunk mobility and upper body strength with constrained and unconstrained UQYBT reach scores within gender.

Methods: 14 males (26.4±7.3 yrs, 1.78±0.07 m, 77.7±9.86 kg) and 14 females (22.5±0.2 years, 1.65±0.06 m, 69.6±9.07 kg) college students participated in two testing sessions. During the first session, participants performed maximal pushup test and maximal seated trunk rotation mobility test. The second session consisted of two UQYBT protocols, constrained (CUQYBT) and unconstrained (UCUQYBT). In the CUQYBT (traditional) participants maintained pushup position with straight supporting arm and no hip flexion. Whereas in the UCUQYBT, participants maintained pushup position, however, they were allowed to flex the elbow of the supporting hand and the hip. Participants performed three reaches in the medial (MR), inferolateral (IR), and superolateral (SR) directions in each protocol. Paired t-tests were performed to compare the scores between the two UQYBT protocols reach scores per gender. Maximal trunk rotation ROM and the maximal pushup score within gender were correlated with the reach scores for each UQYBT protocol, using Pearson correlation. Significance levels were set to 0.05.

Results: Female participants performed 30±8 pushups and trunk rotation of 135±26 deg, whereas male did 50±14 pushups and trunk rotation of 136±14 deg. Males had higher significant reach scores in the UCUQYBT than CUQYBT (p-values< 0.001), for both the dominant and non-dominant sides: MR dominant (102±12.2 vs 87±9.1 cm), non-dominant (104±11 vs 88±6.9 cm); IR dominant (101±11.5 vs 71±8.6 cm), non-dominant (101±12.1 vs 71±9.2 cm); SR dominant (67±10.4 vs 59±10.5 cm), non-dominant (71±11.2 vs 62±10.7 cm). Similar was observed in females for the dominant side, UCUQYBT had higher reach scores than CUQYBT (p-values< 0.001): MR (94±8.5 vs 82±7.5 cm); IR (93±9.7 vs 67±8.3 cm); SR (65±10.7 vs 56±10.7 cm). Whereas in the non-dominant side the same was observed in IR (93±7.6 vs 67±1 cm), p-values< 0.05. Pearson correlation identified moderate positive correlation (r=0.54, p-value< 0.05) between trunk ROM and IR in the UCUQYBT for dominant side and strong correlation (r =0.71, p-value< 0.01) for non-dominant side, in males. No significant correlations were observed for females.

Conclusion: The main finding of this study established the substantial difference in reach scores between CUQYBT and UCUQYBTs for both genders. Moreover, it seems that greater trunk mobility is associated with superior UQYBT reach scores in males, whereas greater trunk mobility in females did not influence performance. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Sport practitioners should pay close attention to the protocol in place when testing upper body functionality with the UQYBT and when comparing reach scores from various resources. 

Acknowledgements: None