User survey of 3 ankle braces in soccer, volleyball, and running: Which brace fits best?

Context: Recurrence rates for ankle sprains are high. Therefore, preventive measures such as ankle bracing during sports are recommended. Objective: To systematically evaluate the perceived ease of use, quality, comfort, stability, and hindrance of and the overall satisfaction with 3 contemporary brace types in 3 types of sports. Design: Randomized comparative user survey. Setting: Recreational sports: Soccer, volleyball, and running. Patients or Other Participants: Young adult recreational athletes (29 soccer players, 26 volleyball players, and 31 runners). Intervention(s): Compression brace (CB), lace-up brace (LB), and semirigid brace (SB). Main Outcome Measure(s): Rating of perceived ease of use, quality, comfort, stability, and hindrance of and overall satisfaction with the brace types during sports on a 5-point Likert scale. The secondary outcome measure was participants' willingness to buy the tested brace. Results: Overall, the 3 brace types received high mean scores for ease of use and quality. Soccer players preferred the CB over both alternatives, considering the higher scores for comfort (CB=4.0, LB=3.5, SB=2.8), hindrance (CB=3.7, LB = 2.9, SB = 2.8), overall satisfaction (CB = 3.6, LB = 3.0, SB = 2.5), and greatest willingness to buy this brace. Volleyball players preferred the LB over both alternatives, considering the higher scores for stability (LB=4.2, CB=3.2, SB=3.3), overall satisfaction (LB = 3.8, CB = 3.0, SB = 3.0), and greatest willingness to buy this brace. Runners preferred the CB over both alternatives considering the better score for hindrance (CB = 3.6, LB = 2.8, SB = 2.9) and greatest willingness to buy this brace. Conclusions: All 3 ankle-brace types scored high on perceived ease of use and quality. Regarding the brace types, soccer players, volleyball players, and runners differed in their assessments of subjective evaluation of comfort, stability, hindrance, overall satisfaction, and willingness to buy the brace. Soccer players and runners preferred the CB, whereas volleyball players preferred the LB.