Evidence-based sports medicine: outcomes instruments for active populations

Clear and directed outcomes assessment is an integral part of clinical decision making. For sports medicine clinicians, it is crucial to choose appropriate instruments that are grounded in disablement theory, designed to measure the ability of a physically active population, and have established psychometric properties. Although there is no instrument ideal for every situation in sports medicine, there are important guidelines that a clinician can follow that will allow for the selection of an appropriate instrument. The purposes of this article are to (1) introduce the reader to self-report instruments available, with particular attention to those most appropriate for athletic populations, (2) describe the relationship between disablement paradigms and health-related self-report instruments, and (3) describe the process of instrument development.