OBJECTIVE

To conduct a systematic review with meta-analysis assessing the effectiveness of joint mobilizations for improving dorsiflexion range of motion (DFROM) and dynamic postural control in individuals with chronic ankle instability.

DATA SOURCES

Electronic databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus) were searched from inception to January 2017.

STUDY SELECTION

Included studies examined the isolated effects of joint mobilizations to enhance DFROM and dynamic postural control in individuals with chronic ankle instability and provided adequate data to calculate effect sizes (ESs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

DATA EXTRACTION

Two investigators independently assessed the methodologic quality, level of evidence, and strength of recommendation using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale and the Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy. We extracted the sample sizes, means, and standard deviations for DFROM and dynamic postural control and filtered the data based on control-to-intervention and preintervention-to-postintervention (pre-post) comparisons.

DATA SYNTHESIS

We included 7 level 1 and 3 level 2 studies that had a median Physiotherapy Evidence Database score of 60% (range = 40%-80%). The magnitudes of control-to-intervention and pre-post differences were examined using bias-corrected Hedges ESs. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted for each outcome measure and comparison. Positive ESs indicated better outcome scores in the intervention group than in the control group and at postintervention than at preintervention. The α level was set at .05. Meta-analysis revealed weak and moderate ESs for overall control-to-intervention (ES = 0.41; 95% CI = 0.14, 0.68; = .003) and pre-post (ES = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.20, 0.48; < .001) DFROM analyses. Overall, dynamic postural control meta-analysis revealed moderate control-to-intervention (ES = 0.42; 95% CI = -0.14, 0.98; = .14) and weak and moderate ESs for pre-post (ES = 0.37; 95% CI = -0.12, 0.87; = .14) analyses.

CONCLUSIONS

We observed grade A evidence that joint mobilizations can mildly improve DFROM among individuals with chronic ankle instability compared with controls and preintervention. We observed grade B evidence that indicated conflicting effects of joint mobilizations on dynamic postural control compared with controls and preintervention.