Raising the standards of the calf-raise test : a systematic review

The calf-raise test is used by clinicians and researchers in sports medicine to assess properties of the calf muscle-tendon unit. The test generally involves repetitive concentric–eccentric muscle action of the plantar-flexors in unipedal stance and is quantified by the numberof raises performed. Although the calf-raise test appears to have acceptable reliability and face validity, and is commonly used for medical assessment and rehabilitation of injuries, no universally acceptable test parameters have been published to date. A systematic review of the existing literature was conducted to investigate the consistency as well as universal acceptance of the evaluation purposes, test parameters, outcome measurements and psychometric properties of the calf-raise test. Nine electronic databases were searched during the period May 30th to September 21st 2008. Forty-nine articles met the inclusion criteria and were quality assessed.