DAILY KNEE JOINT LAXITY IN FEMALES ACROSS A MENSTRUAL CYCLE AND MALES ACROSS A CALENDAR MONTH

Abstract

Increased athletic participation of females has resulted in a high occurrence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. Excessive knee joint laxity during hormonal peaks of endogenous sex hormones during the follicular, ovulatory, and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle has been associated with ACL injury risk. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of gender and menstrual phase on knee joint laxity over the full course of a normal menstrual cycle in females and across a calendar month in males. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed no interaction effect between gender and phase, no main effect for gender, but a statistically significant main effect for phase. Since male participants demonstrated a similar inclination between phases, the significance of this trend should be interpreted as a possible random occurrence.