Consistency Between Lower Limb Preference and Dominance in Healthy Adult Distance Runners: Exploring its Variability Across Tasks and Time

Background Limb preference and dominance are commonly used to describe lateralisation in human motor behaviour, yet they represent distinct concepts. Most research has focused on unilateral sports, where one limb is predominantly used, while bilateral sports, such as running, have received less attention. This study aimed to (1) examine the concordance between lower limb preference (self-identified best-performing limb) and dominance (objectively determined best-performing limb) across various functional tasks, and (2) evaluate the temporal stability of both concepts in runners. Methods Sixty-eight runners aged 20–50 years, representing different running levels, completed a field-based test battery comprising one range of motion, two jump performance, and seven isometric strength tests. This testing occurred across three sessions spaced two weeks apart. Side-to-side differences were assessed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Agreement between limb preference and dominance, and temporal stability, were assessed using (Fleiss’) kappa. Results Wilcoxon tests revealed significant differences between limbs in only 5 of the 30 total assessments (p < 0.001 to 0.048). Consistency in direction between limb preference and limb dominance varied by task: fair to moderate for ankle dorsiflexion range of motion (κ = 0.228 to 0.525), poor to slight for jump performance (κ = − 0.492 to 0.023), and poor to fair for isometric strength (κ = − 0.211 to 0.281). Over time, Fleiss’ kappa values indicated fair (κ = 0.254) and moderate (κ = 0.455) consistency for limb preference and limb dominance in ankle dorsiflexion, respectively. For jump performance tests, consistency was fair to moderate for limb preference (κ = 0.271 to 0.494) and fair for limb dominance (κ = 0.316 to 0.338). Strength tests showed slight to fair consistency over time for both limb preference (κ = 0.058 to 0.338) and dominance (κ = 0.042 to 0.237). Conclusions These findings highlight that limb preference and dominance are distinct constructs, with variability depending on task and time. Therefore, both constructs should be assessed independently and on regular basis using task-specific measures. Trial registrations ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06808399); registered on 29/11/2022.