Assessing Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries: The Association and Differential Value of Questionnaires, Clinical Tests, and Functional Tests

Thora B. Neeb, Geert Aufdemkampe, Jan H.D. Wagener, Louise Mastenbroek

It is important to examine the package of questionnaires and clinical and functional tests as used in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-injured patients in order to gain insight on the patient's present status. Nine measuring systems in 3 categories were examined: 4 questionnaires, 3 clinical tests, and 2 functional tests. Differences between sports activity rating system, factor occupational rating system scale, and Tegner scores pre- and post-injury and the differences between the affected and unaffected knee in the clinical and functional tests were calculated using the Wilcoxon test for paired observations. These differences proved to be significant (p < 0.05). The association between the various tests was also examined. None of the associations satisfied the preset standards. Based on these low levels of association, it does not seem possible to reduce the package of tests to 1 questionnaire, 1 clinical test, and 1 functional test as all questionnaires and tests seem to be related to different aspects of the injured ACL. Based upon these results, the total package should be used to gain insight in both impairment and disability level in patients with an injured ACL.

J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 1998;26(6):324-331.

Key Words: knee instability, measuring systems, anterior cruciate ligament

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