Functional Movement Screening (FMS) and Body Balance Issues among Athletes and Non-Athletes: Clinical implications for the Arab American University students

This study aims to assess postural stability and functional movement quality among students at the Arab American University by applying the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) protocol. A total of 44 participants (22 males and 22 females) were divided into athletic and non-athletic subgroups. The FMS test was used to evaluate performance across seven fundamental movement patterns: deep squat, hurdle step, in-line lunge, shoulder mobility, active straight-leg raise, trunk stability push-up, and rotary stability. The study followed a non-experimental cross-sectional design, and all participants were free of musculoskeletal injuries in the six weeks preceding the assessment. The findings showed that athletes demonstrated significantly higher FMS scores and better postural stability than non-athletes. Significant differences were found based on height, while gender, age, and weight did not significantly affect the outcomes. Female participants outperformed males in the active straight-leg raise, whereas male participants achieved better scores in rotary stability. The overall mean FMS score among all participants was 17.05 out of 21, representing 81.2% of the maximum possible score.