Effectiveness of Taekwondo in Improving Postural Control among Healthy Adolescents: a Systematic Review

Objective(s): To investigate whether Taekwondo improves postural control of healthy adolescents so that it can be considered as a potential recreational rehabilitation for postural control and fall prevention of adolescents with disabilities

Data Sources: Primary search involved six databases (ProQuest Health & Medical Complete, EBSCO (Biomedical Reference Collection: Basic, CINAHL Plus with full text, MEDLINE Complete), ScienceDirect, and PubMed). Secondary search involved pearling references from the collected articles and eBooks on Taekwondo. Delimiters included year range of publication (January 2010-December 2015), English language, and adolescents as age group.

Study Selection: Included studies investigated on healthy adolescents practicing Taekwondo and effects of the sport on postural control, sensory development and/or sensory integration. Publication dates were within January 2010 to December 2015. There were no limitations or exclusions on study designs and methodologies. Paid full texts and non-English articles were excluded. Data search was done manually by the researcher using the PRISMA guidelines. All collected articles were reviewed and appraised by two other independent reviewers. Initial hits were 1,873 and was reduced to 1,822 after duplicates removal. The count dropped to sixteen after screening titles and abstracts using PICO framework. Half of the sixteen articles were included in the review.

Data Extraction: Data charting was done manually as form of data extraction. Descriptive comparisons were drawn out and mapped into tables, which was later on synthesized.

Data Synthesis: Seven out of the eight included studies were unanimous in concluding that Taekwondo has a positive effect on the postural control of adolescents aged 11-14 years, regardless of sex, height, and weight. Three published similar values of COG sway ICC and ES of SOT conditions. RCTs concluded that long-term Taekwondo practice produces better postural control seen in better unilateral stance balance. One study showed Taekwondo practice relied more on somatosensory organization compared to visual and vestibular organizations.

Conclusions: Taekwondo improves postural control among adolescents. Longer duration of practice produces better results. Despite being a combat sport, Taekwondo has potential abilities to be therapeutic.

Author(s) Disclosures: No conflict of interests