Dial test in pro footballers
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The effect of leg dominance and age on the dial test in footballers
IRAS ID
289340
Contact name
Mary Jones
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Fortius Clinic
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
This project aims to perform the dial test on professional footballers to see whether there is a difference between the dominant and non-dominant leg.
The dial test is a routine, non-invasive clinical examination of the lower limb, in particular knee, ankle and foot. It assesses the amount of external rotation of the foot against the thigh (which occurs at the knee). The patient is laid prone and a gentle external rotation force is applied to the foot until an end-point is felt. This is performed with the knee flexed to approximately 30 degrees. At maximal external rotation, the position of the feet are noted and the angle measured against a midline longitudinal axis (sometimes called thigh-foot angle). An asymmetrical increase in this angle is considered a positive result. This is a test for knee ligament injury, specifically the posterolateral corner complex of ligaments and tendon. The dial test is not painful, or even uncomfortable.
This excessive external rotation has been noted in professional footballers who have not had any previous knee injuries. This is though to be due to repetitive external rotation force applied to the foot and lower leg during instep passing using the dominant leg. Therefore we postulate that professional footballers will have a positive dial test on their dominant side, despite not having had an injury to that knee. This hypothesis has never been tested before.
The dial test will be performed, a photograph of the feet taken and digital software will be used to calculate the thigh-foot angle. These measurements will be taken by two independent assessors to improve the reliability of the results.
REC name
London - West London & GTAC Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/PR/0610
Date of REC Opinion
10 Nov 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion