[Possible influence of knee scores]

This study evaluated 96 knee joints with osteoarthritis (degree I according to Resnick). The patients were examined by three examiners with the following score systems: Larson, Lysholm, Marshall, Orthopädische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Knie (OAK), Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Tegner activity level, and the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) scoring system. The portion of subjective criteria varied in the different scores between 22 and 95 %. Nevertheless, the agreement between criteria showed high correlations among the different examiners. Depending on the scoring system used and the examiners, different values were achieved. The results were significant at the 5 % level for the numerical results (Friedmantest) and for the total results (Bowkertest). The Lysholm score showed results that were extremely dependent on the different examiners, and the evaluation was very strict. The HSS scoring system was not as strict. The Marshall and the OAK scoring system presented few differences. The Larson score results compared with the OAK, and the Marshall score results showed comparable results in the evaluation by the different examiners. The Visual Analog Scale presented difficulties when used by the patients. The results showed a tendency to the middle values, the patients did not use the whole spread. Apart from this, the correlation between these VAS values and the results of the other scoring systems were high. Since it was only used one time, the Tegner activity level could not efficiently show the limitation caused by knee-joint damage. At the level of 1-4 the Lysholm scoring system and the VSA scale resulted in high values.