ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT07918612Updated Nov 10, 2026

Effects of Virtual Reality-Based Optokinetic Stimulation on Landing Technique and Dynamic Knee Valgus in Athletes

An interventional study of Drop Vertical Jump Training and Virtual Reality-Based Optokinetic Stimulation in Dynamic Knee Valgus and Jump-Landing Technique, sponsored by Bahçeşehir University. Recruiting at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye). Open to participants aged 18 Years to 24 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-10.

Sponsored by Bahçeşehir University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

Updated Nov 10, 2026Now RecruitingSite recruiting status changed+1 moreGo to Updates ↓
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
20
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 24 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This pilot study will examine whether adding virtual reality-based optokinetic stimulation to jump-landing training changes landing technique and inward knee movement in young adult athletes. Optokinetic stimulation involves watching moving visual scenes through a virtual reality headset.

Twenty licensed basketball or volleyball athletes aged 18-24 years will be randomly assigned to two groups. Both groups will complete the same jump-landing training, consisting of two blocks of 10 repetitions with performance feedback. One group will also receive seated virtual reality-based optokinetic stimulation before each training block.

Landing technique will be assessed using the Landing Error Scoring System. Inward knee movement will be assessed by measuring the frontal plane projection angle during single-leg squats. Assessments will take place before training, after training, and one week later to determine whether any changes are retained. The assessor will not know which group each participant has been assigned to.

Read the detailed description

This two-arm, parallel-group, assessor-blinded randomized controlled study will investigate the immediate and one-week retention effects of virtual reality-based optokinetic stimulation added to drop vertical jump training.

Before randomization, all candidates will complete a five-minute virtual reality familiarization session. System usability and simulator sickness symptoms will be assessed to determine eligibility. Twenty eligible athletes will be randomly allocated to jump-landing training alone or the same training supplemented with virtual reality-based optokinetic stimulation.

Both groups will complete a standardized warm-up and task familiarization, followed by baseline assessment. Training will consist of two blocks of 10 drop vertical jumps from a 30-cm box toward a target positioned at a distance equal to 50% of the participant's height. Participants will rest for 30 seconds between repetitions and five minutes between training blocks. Performance feedback based on landing errors will be provided after each block.

In the experimental group, optokinetic stimulation will be delivered using a Meta Quest 3S headset while participants sit in a supported chair with their feet on the floor. A custom virtual environment will display moving balloons against a sky background. Participants will track a red target balloon with their eyes while keeping their head as still as possible. Foreground stimuli will move at 30 degrees per second, with the background moving in the opposite direction at twice that speed. Before each training block, participants will receive three 60-second exposures in each direction, providing six minutes of active stimulation per block and 12 minutes across the session, excluding rest periods. The headset will be removed before jump training.

The primary outcome will be landing technique assessed using the Landing Error Scoring System from frontal and sagittal video recordings. The secondary outcome will be the frontal plane projection angle during single-leg squatting, calculated as the mean of three successful repetitions at the deepest squat position. Both outcomes will be assessed at baseline, after training, and at a one-week retention visit by an assessor blinded to group allocation. Post-training and retention assessments will be performed without additional corrective instructions or performance feedback.

Simulator sickness symptoms will be monitored in the virtual reality group. Stimulation will be stopped if moderate or severe symptoms occur, safe continuation is not possible, or the participant wishes to stop. The System Usability Scale will be used for eligibility screening, and the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire will be used for tolerability screening and symptom monitoring; neither will be treated as an efficacy outcome.

02

Conditions studied

  • Dynamic Knee Valgus
  • Jump-Landing Technique

Keywords

  • Optokinetic Stimulation
  • Virtual Reality
  • Drop Vertical Jump
  • Landing Error Scoring System
  • Frontal Plane Projection Angle
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Bahçeşehir University is the lead sponsor of 128 studies on the registry; 26 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 24 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Aged 18-24 years.
  • between 18.5 and 25 kg/m².
  • Currently participating as an active, licensed basketball or volleyball athlete.
  • No trunk or lower-extremity injury within the previous six months.
  • Frontal plane projection angle greater than 10 degrees during the single-leg squat test.
  • System Usability Scale classification of A+, corresponding to the 96th-100th percentile, following virtual reality familiarization.
  • Ability to tolerate a five-minute virtual reality familiarization session, with a Simulator Sickness Questionnaire total score of 20 or less after the session.
  • Provision of written .

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of trunk or lower-extremity injury within the previous six months.
  • History of lower-extremity fracture or dislocation.
  • History of low back pain.
  • Musculoskeletal abnormalities.
  • Visual, auditory, vestibular, or neurological impairments that prevent performance of the study tasks.
  • Pregnancy.
  • or metabolic disease.
  • Cybersickness symptoms that prevent toleration of the virtual reality application.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(3)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

BMI (body mass index)

Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.

What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
20 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    VR-OKS Group

    Participants will complete a single session of drop vertical jump training consisting of two blocks of 10 repetitions, with 30 seconds of rest between repetitions and five minutes between blocks. Performance feedback will be provided after each block. Seated virtual reality-based optokinetic stimulation will be administered before each training block, consisting of three 60-second exposures in each direction, totaling six minutes of active stimulation per block

    Behavioral: Drop Vertical Jump Training · Device: Virtual Reality-Based Optokinetic Stimulation

  • Active comparator
    Control Group

    Participants will complete the same single-session drop vertical jump training as the experimental group, consisting of two blocks of 10 repetitions, with 30 seconds of rest between repetitions and five minutes between blocks. Performance feedback will be provided after each block. No additional optokinetic stimulation will be administered before the training blocks.

    Behavioral: Drop Vertical Jump Training

Interventions

  • BehavioralDrop Vertical Jump Training

    Following a standardized warm-up and task familiarization, participants will perform two blocks of 10 drop vertical jumps from a 30-cm box toward a target positioned at 50% of their height. After landing on both feet, participants will immediately jump as high and forward as possible and maintain the final landing position for five seconds. Rest periods will be 30 seconds between repetitions and five minutes between blocks. Feedback based on real-time landing error scores will be provided after each block.

  • DeviceVirtual Reality-Based Optokinetic Stimulation

    Optokinetic stimulation will be delivered through a Meta Quest 3S headset while participants sit in a supported chair with their feet on the floor. Participants will track a red balloon with their eyes while keeping their head as still as possible. Foreground stimuli will move at 30 degrees per second, with the background moving in the opposite direction at twice that speed. Three 60-second exposures will be delivered in each direction before each training block, with 30-60-second rest periods. Active stimulation will total six minutes per block and 12 minutes across the session, excluding rest. The headset will be removed before jump training.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) Score

    Landing technique will be assessed using the 17-item Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) from frontal and sagittal video recordings of the drop vertical jump task. Total scores range from 0 to 19 points, with higher scores indicating more landing errors and poorer landing technique. Participants will complete five successful trials at each assessment, and the mean total score across these five trials will be used for analysis. Assessments will be performed by an assessor blinded to group allocation. Changes over time will be compared between groups.

    Time frame: Baseline (before training), immediately after the training session, and one week after training (retention).

Secondary outcomes

  1. Frontal Plane Projection Angle (FPPA) During Single-Leg Squat

    Dynamic knee valgus will be assessed using two-dimensional frontal-plane video analysis during a single-leg squat on the dominant limb. The frontal plane projection angle (FPPA), expressed in degrees, will be measured at the deepest squat position using lines connecting the anterior superior iliac spine, the midpoint of the patella, and the midpoint of the ankle joint. The mean of three successful repetitions will be used for analysis. Changes over time will be compared between groups by an assessor blinded to group allocation.Assessments will be performed by an assessor blinded to group allocation. Changes over time will be compared between groups.

    Time frame: Baseline (before training), immediately after the training session, and one week after training (retention).

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No — Individual participant data will not be shared with researchers outside the study team, in accordance with the confidentiality provisions of the approved study protocol and informed consent form. Study findings will be reported in aggregate form through scientific publications and presentations.

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

3 registry updates since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Started Nov 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Mar 2027, 4 months after the start.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Oct 31, 2026
First posted
Nov 5, 2026
StartActual
Nov 8, 2026
Primary completionEst.
Mar 2027
CompletionEst.
Mar 2027
Last update
Nov 10, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
Status
Not yet recruiting→Recruiting
changed Nov 10, 2026
Sites
Istanbul Nisantasi University is now Recruiting
Nov 10, 2026
Registered
First appeared on the registry
Nov 5, 2026
Show all 3 updates
  1. Nov 10, 2026
    Not yet recruiting→Recruiting
    Istanbul Nisantasi University is now Recruiting
    + 1 other change: date precision
  2. Nov 9, 2026
    Minor edits only
    + 1 other change: criteria formatting
  3. Nov 5, 2026
    First appeared on the registry

From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07918612
Responsible party
Büşra Tamgüç (PhD candidate in physiotherapy and rehabilitation, Bahçeşehir University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Nov 5, 2026
Start date
Nov 8, 2026
Primary completion
Mar 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Mar 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Nov 10, 2026

Study contacts

Büşra Tamgüç, PT, MSc
Contact
busra.tamguc.9@gmail.com
05313373355

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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