Evidence map›Paper›PMID 16926259›Full record

SynthesisBritish journal of sports medicine2006

Does stretching increase ankle dorsiflexion range of motion? A systematic review.

J A Radford, J Burns, R Buchbinder, K B Landorf, C Cook

Registry-linked trialOpen access · bronzeAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in British journal of sports medicine, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01856972 (Does the Addition of Manual Therapy Techniques Increase Gastrocnemius/Soleus Length More Than Stretching Alone?), which is not on this map. Cited by 39 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
39citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
6.2field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT01856972 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2013, after this paper: background citation

Does the Addition of Manual Therapy Techniques Increase Gastrocnemius/Soleus Length More Than Stretching Alone?

TypeinterventionalSponsorNationwide Children's HospitalRan2013 to 2014Enrolled20ConditionsMuscle TightnessArmsInstrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization, Rearfoot joint mobilization, Static stretching/ROM exercises
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

39 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 161 citations in OpenAlex.

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  3. Flexibility exercise training for adults with fibromyalgia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

J A RadfordSchool of Biomedical and Health Sciences, University of Western Sydney, Campbelltown, Australia. j.radford@uws.edu.au
J Burns
R Buchbinder
K B Landorf
C Cook
Western Sydney University · AULa Trobe University · AUMonash University · AUUniversity of Sydney · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMany lower limb disorders are related to calf muscle tightness and reduced dorsiflexion of the ankle. To treat such disorders, stretches of the calf muscles are commonly prescribed to increase available dorsiflexion of the ankle joint. HYPOTHESIS: To determine the effect of static calf muscle stretching on ankle joint dorsiflexion range of motion. STUDY

designA systematic review with meta-analyses.

methodsA systematic review of randomised trials examining static calf muscle stretches compared with no stretching. Trials were identified by searching Cinahl, Embase, Medline, SportDiscus, and Central and by recursive checking of bibliographies. Data were extracted from trial publications, and meta-analyses performed that calculated a weighted mean difference (WMD) for the continuous outcome of ankle dorsiflexion. Sensitivity analyses excluded poorer quality trials. Statistical heterogeneity was assessed using the quantity I2.

resultsFive trials met inclusion criteria and reported sufficient data on ankle dorsiflexion to be included in the meta-analyses. The meta-analyses showed that calf muscle stretching increases ankle dorsiflexion after stretching for < or = 15 minutes (WMD 2.07 degrees; 95% confidence interval 0.86 to 3.27), > 15-30 minutes (WMD 3.03 degrees; 95% confidence interval 0.31 to 5.75), and > 30 minutes (WMD 2.49 degrees; 95% confidence interval 0.16 to 4.82). There was a very low to moderate statistical heterogeneity between trials. The meta-analysis results for < or = 15 minutes and > 15-30 minutes of stretching were considered robust when compared with sensitivity analyses that excluded lower quality trials.

conclusionsCalf muscle stretching provides a small and statistically significant increase in ankle dorsiflexion. However, it is unclear whether the change is clinically important.

Indexed as

Ankle JointElasticityExerciseHumansMuscle ContractionMuscle, SkeletalRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicRange of Motion, Articular

Identifiers

PMID16926259
PMCPMC2465055
OpenAlexW2146365016

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.