Association Between The 30-second Chair Stand Test And Single Limb Hop Tests In College Students

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is common in young adults. Assessment of functional recovery after ACL injury involves the single leg hop tests, including the single hop for distance (SH), triple hop for distance (TH), cross-over hop for distance (CH), and the 6-meter timed hop (6MTH). These tests are considered gold standards and guide clinical decision-making regarding return to sport. Often, these tests are not performed during early stages of rehabilitation because they produce excessive loads on the injured limb that may disturb healing. It is important to examine functional performance during early stages of rehabilitation using tests that exert less loads on the injured limb and are comparable to the gold standard tests. The 30-second chair stand test (30CST) possesses such qualities, yet no studies examined the association between the 30CST and hop tests. PURPOSE: To examine the association of the 30CST with SH, TH, CH, and 6MTH tests. METHODS: Twenty-six college students (6 men, M age = 22.46 ± 4.24) were included. Body height (m) and body weight (kg) were measured. Participants completed two trials of the 30CST (repetitious). Participants also completed two trials of the SH (m), TH (m), CH (m), and 6MTH (s) tests for right and left legs. Spearman correlations were used to examine the association between the 30CST and the single leg hop tests (SH, TH, CH, and 6MTH). RESULTS: Average body height and body weight were 1.60 ± 0.45 m and 54.93 ± 12.21 kg, respectively. The average 30CST scores were 23.13 ± 5.20 repetitions. The average SH scores were 0.91 ± 0.15 m for the right leg and 0.86 ± 0.17 m for the left leg. The average TH score was 2.63 ± 0.46 m for the right leg and 2.56 ± 0.49 m for the left leg. CH average score was 2.23 ± 0.51 m for the right leg and 2.12 ± 0.55 m for the left leg. The average scores of the 6MTH were 3.13 ± 0.50s for the right leg and 3.40 ± 0.6 s for the left leg. The correlation tests demonstrated significant associations of the 30CST with SH of the right leg (rs = 0.47, p = 0.02), TH of the right leg (rs = 0.41, p = 0.03), and CH of the right leg (rs = 0.40, p = 0.04). No other significant associations were found. CONCLUSIONS: The 30CST was associated with the SH, TH, and CH in college students. Perhaps the 30CST could be a valuable assessment tool of functional performance during early stages of ACL rehabilitation.