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Updated: Aug 19, 2025
Author Spotlight: Implementing the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Concept in Rehabilitation Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction
Published on: March 1, 2024
Changes in subjective knee function and psychological status from preoperation to 6 months post anterior cruciate
Shunsuke Ohji1, Junya Aizawa2, Kenji Hirohata3
1Clinical Center for Sports Medicine and Sports Dentistry, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo, 113-8519, Japan. ohji.spt@tmd.ac.jp.
Purpose:
To determine characteristic changes in subjective knee function, kinesiophobia, and psychological readiness to return to sports between scores taken before anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) and those taken 6 months post-ACLR.
Methods:
Thirty-two participants (median age, 20.0 years) were included. Subjective knee function was assessed using the International Knee Documentation Committee Subjective Knee Form (IKDC-SKF). The Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK-11) and Anterior Cruciate Ligament Return to Sport after Injury (ACL-RSI) scale were used to evaluate kinesiophobia and psychological readiness to return to sport, respectively. Questionnaires were administered 1 day before surgery and at 6 months post-ACLR. A positive change was defined as an increase in IKDC-SKF and ACL-RSI scores and a decrease in TSK-11 score. The change in each score from pre-ACLR to 6 months post-ACLR was analyzed using a paired t-test. The percentage change in scores was calculated, and the correlations of the percentage change in the TSK-11 and ACL-RSI scores and that in the IKDC-SKF score were analyzed.
Results:
All scores differed significantly positively from pre-ACLR to 6 months post-ACLR. The proportion of participants whose scores did not change positively from pre-ACLR to 6 months post-ACLR was higher for the TSK-11 (38.0%) and ACL-RSI (38.0%) than for the IKDC-SKF (6.3%). No correlation was observed between the percentage change in the IKDC-SKF score and that in the TSK-11 or ACL-RSI scores from pre-ACLR to 6 months post-ACLR.
Conclusions:
Changes in subjective knee function and psychological status from pre-ACLR and 6 months post-ACLR may not be interdependent.
